


Null

by hanna1234



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blow Jobs, Bottom Dean, Clueless Castiel, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, Insecure Castiel, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, Omega Dean, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Supportive Gabriel (Supernatural), Top Castiel, True Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-06-26 02:12:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15653634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanna1234/pseuds/hanna1234
Summary: People normally present as either alpha, beta or omega, but an unlucky few never presents, they are referred to as "Nulls". A Null are practically scentless and can't smell other peoples scents like the other subgenders. This means they can never scentbond, and they are usually avoided by other people.Castiel is a Null, who through the support of his cousin, best friend and a teacher, manages to live a somewhat normal, but isolated, life.Then one day, he meets an omega named Dean.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'll start with a CW/TW for this first chapter.  
> There will be a suicide attempt, but it's not very graphic.  
> The first chapter is the darkest, as it's Castiels backstory, none of the other chapters will come even close to this one.  
> I'll post chapter 2 shortly after the first one, just to brighten the mood a bit.
> 
> I will add a few more tags when the story is progresses, just to avoid some spoilers.  
>  
> 
> That said, I hope you'll enjoy the story!

Eight year old Castiel was half listening to his two year younger cousin, Gabriel, prattling on about his favorite SpongeBob SquarePants episode. They were walking behind their mothers, who had taken the boys shopping for some fall clothes, now that the new school year was about to begin.

Castiels mom had promised him he could buy a new comic book, if he behaved himself and was nice to Gabe. He was thinking about which one to get, while humming along to his cousins babbling, when he accidentally walked straight into something and fell on his butt.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Are you ok kid?”

Cas looked up into the worried face of a kind looking man.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going…” Cas answered, a bit embarrassed.

“No worries. Here, let me help you get up.” The man smiled at him and offered Castiel a hand. He was just about to grab the mans hand when his mother slapped it away from him.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t touch my son!” His mom looked furious, while she roughly yanked Castiel off the ground and pushed him behind herself.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I was just trying to help the boy up…” The man tried but was interrupted by Castiels mother.

“I don’t care! I don’t want a Null talking to, or touching, my child!” Cas could see the man flinch. The man blushed and looked down at the ground.

“With due respect, ma’am, there’s no need to be that harsh…”

“Just get away from us!” His mom was shouting now, and people were starting to stop and stare at them. The man held up his hands in surrender and walked away. Castiels aunt put a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“Come on, Hester. He’s gone now, let’s continue shopping, I still need a pair of shoes for Gabriel.” His mother’s shoulders relaxed and she nodded at her sister.

“Yes, let’s get going. Are you ok, Castiel?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Why did you shout at that man?” Castiel was feeling confused, he had no idea what the man had done wrong.

“Yeah, and what’s a “Knoll?” Gabriel was piping up from behind Castiel. Their mothers shared a meaningful look, and then his aunt gently nodded. His mother sighed.

“You boys know how everyone is either an alpha, an omega or a beta? ” Both Castiel and Gabe nodded in affirmation, although Cas didn’t know the specifics. His parents had told him he was too young to understand all of it yet and that he would find out when he was older, and they’d start teaching him about the subject in school.

“That is called a gender designation, or a subgender. Well, a _Null_ is someone that God does not approve of, and as a punishment they are not given a subgender.” Castiel and Gabriel gave eachother confused looks.

“Why does that matter?” Gabriel asked, and their moms shared another look.

“If you don’t have a subgender, you can’t make out scents the way those who have one can. You can’t tell how someone is feeling or thinking. Worst of all, you can’t scent bond with another person. Scent bonding is crucial for finding the person you will mate and spend the rest of your life with. A Null is destined to live life without a mate, never to feel love.” Castiel felt stunned and looked at his mother with worried eyes, then Gabriel started bawling.

“But…but… I can’t scent those things! Will I…will I be unloved forever?” Gabe shouted as tears were pouring down his face. Castiels mother and aunt looked surprised, then they started laughing, and Castiels aunt pulled her crying son into an embrace.

“Oh, honey, no, that is perfectly normal! You’re just a child! The only scents you can make out is the different ones of your family. Like, how you can scent me and know I’m about to enter your room just before I do. But you won’t be able to scent if someone is angry or sad until you present as a subgender when you’re a teenager.” Gabriel relaxed at that and stopped crying.

“The two of you have nothing to worry about, you’re both good kids.” Castiel’s aunt said and ruffled both their hairs.

“And, God’s most devoted and beloved followers, just might get rewarded by meeting their true mate. That’s a person that is made for you, a soulmate. It is very, very rare though, so make sure you behave your very best at Sunday School.” His aunt winked at them.

“Ok, kids, let’s get you both some new shoes!” Castiels mother said cheerily, and they all started down the street again.

His aunt’s words hadn’t stopped Castiels worries though. He couldn’t scent his mother before she entered his room. But it wasn’t like he couldn’t smell her at all! If he got really close to her, like when they hugged, he could scent her. A null wouldn’t be able to do that, right?

 

 

“Cassie! Oh, my GAWD! CASSIEEE!!!” Castiel startled at the shrieking voice of his cousin, starting downstairs, and quickly getting closer with Gabriels thundering footsteps. Castiel turned around from his desk, just as Gabriel threw open his bedroom door.

“I’ve presented!!! Can you tell what I am?!” Gabriel ran up to Castiel, wearing a huge grin on his face, and staring at him in anticipation. Gabriels face was flushed, his eyes shining, and he was sweating profusely.

“Ehhrrm…no?” Gabriel was standing so close that Castiel unconsciously started to lean back in his chair.

“Oh, come ON! You’ve got to scent it at least a little bit, even if you’re still unpresented!” Gabriel impatiently slapped Castiels shoulder. Castiel felt a sting at the “unpresented” bit.

“I…uh…” Castiel didn’t scent anything different about Gabriel, well, he did smell a little bit sweeter than usual. Castiel decided to take a guess.

“Uhm…O-Omega?” Cas held in a sigh of relief at the glee in Gabes eyes.

“Correct! Isn’t that awesome?! Dad is _furious_!” Gabriel giggled.

“Did he seriously think you’d present as an alpha?” Cas asked with an eyeroll.

“He hoped! But I guess he assumed I’d be at least a Beta. You know how he is about male omegas…” Yeah, Castiel knew how his uncle, and pretty much everyone in their family thought it was pathetic for a man to be able to carry a child.

“I’m so sorry about that, Gabe.”

“Don’t be! He and the rest of our family can shove their beliefs where the sun don’t shine! At least I’ve got you on my side, right!” Gabe winked at him, but Cas knew his cousin well enough to pick up on the well hidden worry in his eyes.

“Yeah, Gabe, I’ll always be on your side.” Castiel smiled at him, and Gabe smiled back, then he suddenly looked weird and stumbled on his feet. Castiel managed to catch him before he fell to the floor.

“Whoa, Gabe! Are you ok?” Cas worriedly asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s the heat, makes me dizzy. I should probably get back home and lock myself in my room.” Gabriel grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Euuw, Gabe! I did not want that mental image!” Cas whined as his cousin snickered.

“Whatever, see you in three to four days, Cuz!” Gabriel turned and swaggered out of Castiels room.

Cas sat back down in his chair, staring in front of himself. He was happy that Gabriel had presented, but at the same time it really hurt that his thirteen year old cousin had presented before he did. Cas felt the familiar old unease settle in his stomach. What if he’d never present? He felt almost nauseous at the thought. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. So, he didn’t scent things as well as his other unpresented friends, but that didn’t have to mean anything. Most people presented between the ages of twelve and fifteen, but it wasn’t that unusual for people to present when they were as old as sixteen and even sometimes seventeen. So, realistically speaking, he’d probably present any day now.

 

 

At sixteen, and just two months shy of his seventeenth birthday, Cas was still unpresented. His parents had started discussing taking him to see a doctor, but he had talked them out of it, for the time being. He was currently on his way to pick up his girlfriend April. They had been dating for a little over a year, and four months ago she had presented as a beta. When he drove up to her house, April was already waiting for him outside. He smiled at her as she opened the door and sat down beside him, but stopped when he saw the serious look on her face.

“April, is everything ok?” He reached over to stroke her cheek, but she gently catched his hand and pushed it back towards him, making Cas frown.

“I’m sorry, Cas, but this isn’t working.” She turned to look at him, still with the same serious expression on her face.

“W-what are you talking about?” Castiel asked, anxiety starting to rise.

“Us, we’re not working… I want to break up.” Castiel felt as if all air had been punched out of his lungs.

“What do you mean we’re not working? We have fun together, I like you and I thought you liked me too.” Castiel felt pathetic, but couldn’t help himself. April sighed.

“I do like you but… But seriously Castiel, you’re almost seventeen and you still haven’t presented! People have started talking about it, and honestly, it’s embarrassing.” Castiel flinched and felt cold dread settle in his gut.

“You have to face reality, there’s a huge risk that you’re not going to present. And I can’t be dating a… well, a Null. You get that, right?” Castiel didn’t know what to say, so he just stared at her. April sighed again.

“I’m sorry, Cas, but it has to be this way. I’m going back in now, you take care, ok?” April opened the door and stepped out of the car, then she turned around.

“If I’m wrong and you do eventually present, we can always try again and see where it goes.” She gave him a small smile, closed the door and walked back to the house. Castiel felt numb as he turned the ignition and drove away. He kept driving around aimlessly, for he didn’t know how long, his thoughts a jumbled mess. When he suddenly started to hyperventilate, he pulled over to an empty parking lot. He threw open the door and stumbled out of the car, sank down on his knees and tried to breath through the anxiety.  After a while his breathing started getting back to normal, only to be replaced by his brokenhearted sobs.

 

 

Castiel had been seventeen for three months, when his parents finally snapped and made him see a doctor. Castiel was not at all surprised when the doctor confirmed what his parents greatly feared, and Cas already assumed. The drive home was quiet. His father told him go to his room, as soon as they were inside the house. He was halfway up the stairs, when he heard his mother break down and cry. He turned around to go down and try to comfort her, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her speak.

“What have we done to deserve this? Our only child?” His mother sobbed.

“Well, Castiel has obviously done something to anger God. That boy has always been a bit peculiar.” His father’s voice was cold, devoid of emotion.

“I don’t want him in our house anymore!” Cas stopped breathing at his mother’s words.

“Neither do I, dear. But, Null or not, it won’t look good if we kick him out before he’s finished high school.” His father sounded regretful.

“You can’t be serious, Zachariah? We can’t keep living with that… _thing_!”

“Unfortunately, we have to. But we’ll set up some new ground rules, as to make sure we have to have as little as possible to do with him.”

“Fine! But as soon as he graduates, I want him out of here!”

“Of course, Dear.” Castiel couldn’t keep listening, he turned around on shaking legs and continued up the stairs to his room.

 

 

Four months later, Castiels mother still hadn’t spoken to him since the day of the doctors appointment.  His father only spoke to him when necessary. Everyone at school now knew of his Null status, one after another his friends had stopped speaking to him. His teachers didn’t call on him anymore, except for his art teacher,  a beta named Mr. Roché. Mr. Roché treated him the same way he always had. Gabriel had tried to see him for the first two months, but his parents had figured out all the ways he could sneak out and now kept a close watch on him. The isolation and loneliness were steadily sinking Castiel into a deep depression.

 

 The tipping point came one day when Cas was eighteen. His father knocked at Cas’ door and told him his mother was having another baby.

“God has blessed us with a new hope! This is His way of telling us we did nothing wrong as parents! You are, of course, forbidden to come close to the baby when it is born. I will try to arrange so that you can leave this house a few months before your graduation. Please try to stay out of Hesters way as much as possible, I don’t want your presence to upset her and endanger her pregnancy.”

That evening his parents went out to celebrate together with his aunt and uncle. Castiel placed a box cutter at the side of the bathtub, while he was filling it up with water.  He took a long look at himself in the bathroom mirror, feeling nothing. No sadness, no anxiety. Just a bone deep weariness, maybe a bit of relief at finally taking the step.

He turned off the water, stepped into the bath and slowly sat down and relaxed. Cas grabbed the box cutter and put the blade to his left wrist, he started cutting, hissing at the pain, but didn't stop.

“Hey Cassie! You in the bathroom? I hope you’re decent!” Gabriels voice rung out just before the bathroom door slammed open.

“Grandma fell asleep “watching” me an…” Gabriel stopped talking as is eyes widened in horror at sight in front of him.

“No…nononono, Castiel, no! What are you doing?!!” Gabriels scream startled Castiel into dropping the box cutter into the water. Gabriel grabbed a towel and threw himself onto the floor next to Castiel, and proceeded to frantically wrap the towel around Castiels bleeding wrist.

“You can’t do this, Castiel! I won’t let you!” Castiel could do nothing but stare at Gabriel, as his cousin was holding the bleeding arm up high, while pulling up his cell and dialing 911. While Gabe was informing someone about the situation and giving them the address, Castiel felt himself slowly drift away, then everything went dark.

 

When Cas woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed, it took him a moment before he remembered what he was doing there. So, it hadn’t worked. Well, he could try again as soon as he was out of here. Cas looked up as there was a knock on the door. When the door opened, Cas was surprised to see his art teacher, Mr. Roché enter the room.

“Oh, you’re awake, just a moment, I’ll get the nurse!" Mr. Roche disappeared and soon came back with a nurse who asked Castiel a bunch of questions, while checking his vitals. As soon as she was finished, Mr. Roché sat down beside Castiel and took his hand in his own.

“First off, I am deeply sorry you feel so bad you’d do something like this to yourself. Second, I sincerely apologize for not realizing how bad your situation had gotten. Third, I will do everything I can to make you feel better, ok?” The earnest look on the face of his teacher made something crack inside of Castiel, and though he thought he had no more tears left, they started to fall down his cheeks.

After that, Castiel moved in with Mr. Roche – “Call me Balthazar, it’s weird for you to call me Mr. Roché when we live together!”-, his parents more than happy to be rid of him. Balthazar got Cas into therapy and on antidepressants. He also helped Castiel get in contact with a couple of unpresented adult friends of his, to show Cas that being unpresented didn’t mean your life was over. Gabriel managed to sneak over and hang out with Castiel every now and then, and in between he made sure to message and snap Cas, incessantly.

Cas parents refused to help him with any kind of money, and the savings they had made for him going to college, they put away for the new baby instead. Thanks to Cas’ good grades, his talent in arts, and a little help from Balthazar, Castiel managed to snag himself a scholarship, making his dream of going to University possible. Balthazar assured him there were plenty of places where people had a more openminded view on unpresented people, and helped Cas choose a fitting university.

Castiels little sister Claire, was born one month before Cas’ graduation. He wasn’t allowed to meet her, but Gabriel made sure to send Cas lots of photos. Gabe also told him he’d tell Claire all about her amazing big brother while growing up, and that he’d help her sneak out to see Cas when she was old enough. To Gabes credit, he just kept quiet when Castiel hugged him tight, and cried.

Balthazar had been right about there being places where people were openminded and all in all, Cas had a decent time at university. Of course, there were still people who’d act weird around him, but it was still much better than in his home town. His dating life was nonexistent, but he became close friends with a tall, muscular alpha named Gadreel, who’d stare down anyone who’d dare speak ill to, or about, Castiel. Gabriel decided to apply to the same university as Cas and joined him two years later. Cas realized early on that it’d be best for him if he got a job where he’d have to interact with people as little as possible. Even people who were nice to him, would still act uncomfortable being around him, due to his unpresented status. So that’s how he ended up working as a freelance graphic designer when he graduated, and living together with Gabriel in a three bedroom apartment, close to the university.  


	2. Chapter 2

It was Castiels 25th birthday and he was celebrating at home, with Gabriel and Gadreel. His cousin had made all them a three course meal, and they were now enjoying a fine single malt whiskey, that Gadreel had brought with him. Cas leaned back in the armchair and let out at content sigh.

“You look like a happy cat over there, Cassie. Enjoying you birthday?” Gabe smirked at him.

“Yeah, it’s been great, thanks you guys.” Cas raised his glass and smiled at his two friends.

“Hopefully it’ll get even better after you open your present.” Gadreel smiled back, and Gabe leaned back and pulled out at gift bag from behind the couch.

 “You didn’t have to get me anything, the dinner and scotch was more then enough!” Castiel protested but was quickly hushed by his friends. He accepted the bag and pulled out a small package, maybe six inches high. He quickly unwrapped it and gasped when he pulled out a sleek, glass bottle, containing an amber liquid.

“Wait, is this what I think it is?” Cas stared with wide-eyed disbelief at his friends.

“It sure is!” Gadreel said with a big grin.

“You can’t be serious, this stuff is expensive!” Castiel reverently inspected the bottle containing “Null Block”, a relatively new, and rare product for unpresented people. It was said to make the wearer smell like a beta on blockers. Castiel had read about it in the Null-forums he frequented online, the few who had tried it said it worked amazingly well.

“Well, we split the cost with Balthazar, so it wasn’t that bad. And honestly, you should have seen your face when you told us about this stuff, we had to get it for you.” Gabriel said, and Cas could feel himself tearing up.

“I don’t think I can thank you enough. This is going to make meeting up with clients, so much easier. Or just going to the bank, or…”

“Or coming with us to a party tomorrow night?” Gadreel interrupted Cas, looking hopeful.

“What? A party? I don’t know…” Castiel said reluctantly as he looked down at his hands.

“Please, Cassie? It’ll be fun, it’s at Garths place, you like Garth right? And with the Null-block, no one will bother you about being unpresented, so you can just relax and enjoy the party like everybody else.” Gabriel tried. Castiel did like Garth, the guy had never treated Cas any different from anyone else.

“It’s a college party, then?” Cas asked.

“Kind of, but it will be mixed with other people who have graduated, like us two.” Gadreel added. Castiel contemplated the whole thing, and came to the conclusion that it might be fun, and he was itching to have a reason to try the Null-block.

“Ok, I’ll go to the party…” He was interrupted by cheers from both men.

“BUT, no trying to set me up with anyone. Ok, Gabe?” Castiel told his cousin, sternly.

“Whyyy? I get that you don’t want to ask out a presented person, but there’s no harm in just getting laid?” Gabe pouted.

“No, I’d feel like a creep, tricking someone into thinking I’m something I’m not.”

“Fine, I get your point.” Gabriel sighed.

“I promise not to set you up.”  

“Thank you, Gabe.”

Gadreel poured them all some more whiskey and they continued talking long into the night.

 

The party was great, and the Null-block was working out better than Cas could have hoped for. No one had given him pitying looks, no sneers, no pointing and whispering. He was relaxed and happy in a way he hadn’t been since his early teens. Castiel had just grabbed another beer and headed outside to the porch to get some fresh air. Cas was taking a swig of his beer, when something to his right caught his attention. He turned around and saw the back of a guy, leaning against the side of the house, breathing heavily and shaking. Castiel walked over and tapped the guy on the shoulder.

“Hey man, are you ok?” Cas asked, and let out a small gasp as he was suddenly staring into the face of a ridiculously attractive, blonde, green eyed man, maybe a couple of inches taller than Cas himself. Probably a beta, or maybe an alpha, Cas had never been good at telling.

“I…I don’t know..yea..no, it feels like everything’s spinning…” The pretty man slurred, face pale.

“Had too much to drink? Can I get you some water?” Cas asked.

“N-no, I… I’ve only had one beer, I don’t understand…” The guy tried to take a step back, and immediately stumbled and fell into Castiels arms.

“Whoa, good catch…I mean, I’m sorry, I-I’m…” The guy slurred his words even worse now and he seemed to have a hard time focusing his eyes.

“Let’s try and get you inside, do you have any friends here that can help you home?” Castiel said as he tugged one of the mans arms around his neck.

“N-no…Yes? Garth? I kinda know Garth…” The guy stumbled again and Cas had to use both his arms to hold him up. 

“Well, helloooo, Cassie! What about the “No hookups-rule?” Castiel turned towards the voice of his cousin.

“Gabe! Help me out here, I think this guy might have been drugged!” Gabriel’s grin immediately dropped and he ran over to Cas and helped him hold the guy up.

“Shit, is that you, Dean?”  Gabriel said.

“…Gabe?...” The man whose name was apparently Dean, gave Gabriel a confused look.

“You know him?” Castiel asked.

“Yeah, he’s in engineering, shit, should we take him to the hospital?”

“No, no hospital…expensive…” Dean mumbled.

“Ok, uhm, shit! Let’s take him to our place, he’ll probably be fine sleeping it off, right?” Gabriel asked nervously.

“Uh, yeah, ok. Stay with him here, I’ll go get Gad so he can drive us back.” Castiel and Gabriel managed to get Dean to sit down on the porch steps, and then Cas hurried inside the house again. He got Gadreel, and on the way out they bumped in to Garth and told him had someone had their drink spiked. He promised to make sure to be on the lookout for anything weird going down for the rest of the night. Dean was pretty gone when they got back outside, but with the help of Gadreels alpha strength they managed to get Dean first into the car, then out of the car and into the apartment. They helped the unconscious Dean to the couch, and Gabriel got out a pillow and blanket for him.

“So, I’ve googled a bit and it seems like he’s doing ok, he’s not showing any symptoms of an overdose. It should be safe to let him sleep it off.” Gadreel told the others.

“Ok, well I’m going to bed, I’m exhausted…and drunk. See you tomorrow!” Gabriel said and headed to his room.

“I guess I’m sharing your bed? Since the couch is occupied?” Gadreel asked Cas.

“Yeah, don’t hog the cover, though.” Gadreel looked offended.

“I’ve never hogged the covers!”

“Suuure…” Gadreel flipped off a grinning Cas and started walking toward his bedroom.

“Are you coming?” Gadreel asked Cas.

“I’ll stay up a bit longer. I just want to make sure he’s ok.” Castiel said as he sat down in the armchair. Gadreel turned around.

“You want me to keep you company?”

“Nah, I’ll just sit here and read for a bit.” Gadreel nodded and walked over to Castiels bedroom. Castiel sat beside Dean for two hours before he felt comfortable with leaving him on his own. He sat a glass of water and some Tylenol on the table next to Dean, before he headed to bed.

 

The next morning, Cas woke up cold (of course Gad had wrapped himself up like burrito in the covers) and to the sound of talking voices. He got up and walked out to the living room, in his long sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants. Gabriel and Dean were sitting on the couch, they turned around when they heard Cas close the door to his room.

“Good morning, Cassie! Come meet our house guest. Officially, that is.” Gabriel winked, and Dean blushed and looked down, before looking up at Cas again. Castiel walked over and extended his hand to Dean.

“Hello, Dean, nice to meet you. I’m Castiel, please don’t call me Cassie, Cas is fine though. Dean gripped his hand and shook it firmly, while smiling.

“Ok, nice to meet you, Cas. And, thank you for helping me last night.” Dean gave him a nervous smile.

“Don’t mention it. How are you feeling today?” Castiel sat down, as Gabriel handed him a cup of coffee.

“Like shit, honestly. My whole body aches, and my head is pounding. But I guess I should consider that lucky, considering…” Dean worried his lip, and Cas couldn’t help but stare at it. He looked up and blushed when he noticed Dean, watching him.

“Well, we’re very happy that nothing bad happened. Sucks that you don’t know who might have spiked your drink, I’d love to kick that creeps ass.” Gabriel grumbled.

“Yeah, you and me both.” Dean said angrily.

“Anyhow, feel free to stay here for as long as you need.” Gabriel offered and Castiel agreed.

“Thank you, I’ll see if the Tylenol helps with the pain, then I’ll head back to the dorms.”

“I can drive you, if you’d like?” Castiel quickly offered, and cringed at the eagerness in his voice. For some reason, he didn’t want to part from Dean too soon. Gabriel tried to hide a smirk, but Dean just gave him a radiant smile.

“I’d really appreciate that, thanks.” Castiel smiled back and the two of them kept staring at each other, until Gabe made a small cough.

“I’ll get started on some breakfast, how about you guys pick out a movie for us to watch?” Gabriel said as he got up and walked over to the kitchen. Castiel cleared his throat and looked at Dean again.

“You have any preference when it comes to movies?”

“I can watch just about anything, but I do love scifi.” Dean said, and Cas grinned.

“Yeah? Star Wars or Star Trek?”

“Why choose one when you can have both?” Dean winked.

“Ah, a man of my own taste!” Cas said and was rewarded with a small laugh from Dean.

“How about a classic then, the second Star Trek movie…” Castiel started, but was interrupted by Dean.

“KHAAAAN!” Dean fake yelled, and then they both broke down laughing.

“I take that as a yes?” Castiel finally managed to gasp out, making both of them laugh even more. When they calmed down, they talked about their favorite Star Trek episodes, until Gabriel announced the breakfast ready. All three filled their plates to the brim with pancakes and bacon, before sitting down and watching the movie. Dean and Cas kept quoting the movie, until Gabriel threatened to not let them get a second helping of breakfast. When the movie was over, Dean turned to Castiel.

“So, uh, do you go to KU like Gabriel and I, or...? He asked

“No, I did, but I graduated almost two years ago. I work as a graphic designer now.”

“Cool, what kind of work do you do?” Dean asked, with seemingly genuine interest.

“I mainly work with layout and print design. Gabriel said something about you studying engineering?”

“Yeah, mechanical engineering, I’m going to specialize in automotive, I’m in my third year.”

“Impressive. How do the two of you know each other, since Gabe is in his fourth year of business?” Cas wondered.

“Oh, Deano here is in the same Omega Rights qroup as I.” Gabriel answered nonchalantly.

“Oh? You’re an omega?” Cas blurted out before he could stop himself, and blushed.

“I-I mean, uh, sorry…” Cas bit his lip and looked down at his hands.

“Don’t worry, it’s ok, but, can’t you tell by my scent? Pretty sure my blockers wore off during the night?” Dean said, looking a bit confused. Gabriel gave Cas a sympathetic look, seemed like the Null-block was still going strong.

“Ehm, I, uh…” Castiel began just as the door to his bedroom opened and Gadreel stepped out in only his underwear, yawning and stretching his arms.

“Oh, look who’s alive and breathing! How are you feeling man?” Gadreel asked as he approached the trio. Castiel looked at Dean who had a strange expression on his face, but then it was gone and he smiled at Gadreel.

“A bit beat up, but much better now that I’ve had something to eat. I’m really grateful to all three of you for helping me out.” Dean said as Gadreel leaned over the couch to shake his hand.

“Good to hear, and don’t mention it. I’m Gadreel by the way.

“Dean.”

Gadreel yawned again.

“How come everyone’s already up? It’s Sunday!” He complained.

“Well, I was freezing my ass off and couldn’t sleep. Turned out a certain someone had _hogged_ all the covers.” Castiel said, somewhat sourly. Gadreel huffed a laugh.

“I do not hog the covers, you keep kicking them off in your sleep.”

“You are infuriating.” Castiel shook his head.

“Well, I’m going to take a shower now, nice to meet you, Dean.” Dean gave a nod and Gadreel walked over to the bathroom.

“Uh, well, I feel a lot better now, so I should probably be on my way. Thanks again, for everything.” Dean was scratching the back of his head, looking a bit uncomfortable. Castiel felt a pang of disappointment in his chest, he didn’t want Dean to leave already.

“Again, you don’t need to thank us, and you’re welcome to stay longer, if you’d like.” Cas said.

“Yeah, no need to rush off, Dean-o.” Gabriel agreed.

“Thank you, but I really need to go, I have an assignment I should get started on.” Dean started to stand up.

Alright, I guess I’ll see you at the next group meeting. Just let Cassie get dressed, and he’ll drive you.” Gabriel insisted.

“Yeah, I’ll just be a minute.” Castiel agreed and hurried over to his room to change into jeans and a henley. When he got back out again, Dean was waiting for him by the door. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen, Cas figured he’d gone back to bed.

“I could take the bus, I don’t want to inconvenience you.” Dean said as he fidgeted with the hem of his sweater.

“What? No, I’ll drive you, it’s no problem. I, uh, need to get some groceries anyway.” He and Gabriel had shopped for the whole week the day before, but Dean didn’t know that. Dean gave him a shy smile.

“Ok, great then.”

It was only a ten minute drive to the dorms where Dean lived, and Castiel felt the drive was over way too soon. They were both quiet for a minute, and Castiel frantically tried to come up with something to say. They looked at each other, and then Dean cleared his throat.

“Thanks for the drive, and again, for everything else.” He said as he reached to open the door.

“No problem. It, uh, it was great meeting you. Just, ehrm, wish it was under different circumstances?” Cas cringed again at his own awkwardness, Dean huffed a laugh.

“Yeah, me too. And it was nice meeting you too, Cas. I’ll see you around.” Dean smiled and stepped out of the car.

“Yeah, see you around!” Cas managed before Dean closed the door and waved, then turned around and went through the entrance to the dorm. Cas took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh, then he started the car and drove back home.

When Cas got back, Gadreel was sitting at the kitchen table, shoving cereal in his face. Gabriel was leaning against the counter, sipping on a fresh cup of coffee.

“So, Dean, huh?” Gabriel said with a smirk.

“What do you mean?” Cas frowned.

“Oh, come on! You like him.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. Castiel opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“What? What did I miss?” Gadreel perked up from his almost empty bowl.

“Oh, not much, only a whole morning of Dean and Cassie flirting.” Gabriel tried to act serious, but his face soon split into a huge grin, eyes twinkling.

“Winning the pretty omegas heart by acting like a knight in shining armour, huh?” Gadreel teased and Gabe snorted a laugh.

“More like winning over the fully capable, nerdy omegas heart, by being an even bigger nerd.”

“Yeah, that sounds more like Cas.” Gadreel agreed.

“Oh, shut it, assholes. We weren’t flirting, we just realized we had some common interests. It was a nice, _friendly_ morning.” Castiel said, grumpily.

“Yes, such friendly friends, staring into each other’s eyes, sneaking peaks of one another when they thought no one was looking…” Gabriel continued. Castiel blushed.

“Fine, Dean’s obviously a very attractive man, but still, I wasn’t flirting.”

“I doth think the lady protest too much…” Gadreel said, as he finished his cereal.

“I wasn’t!”

“Oh, _really_?” Gabe asked sarcastically, making anger flare up inside of Cas.

“Yes! Really! It’d be a waste of time and effort!” Cas hissed, making both of his friends stare at him in surprise. After a moment Gadreel quietly spoke up.

“Why do you say that?” Castiel felt his anger subside, and weariness took its place.

“You know why. Dean has no idea I’m a Null, had I not been wearing the Null-block, he’d probably been out the door as soon as he saw me, just to avoid the awkwardness…” Cas slumped down in the chair next to Gadreel. Gad put an arm around Cas’ shoulders and Gabriel sat down on the opposite side.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, that could have happened. But, he could also not have given a fuck. Look at Gadreel, or Garth, they’ve never had a problem with it. There’s cool people out there, you know this, Cas.” Cas drew a shuddering breath, Gabe was right, he’d met several presented people over the years, who didn’t bat an eye at his unpresented status. Still, that didn’t stop the hurt he felt every time someone acted strangely around him. 

“I know… I guess it’s just… I do like him, I enjoyed his company, I think we could be good friends. And that’s what makes it worse, kind of? I don’t want him to be repulsed, or act weird, like he’s walking on eggshells around me, after he finds out.” Gabriel nodded solemnly.

“I get that, I do. I know a lot of people have hurt you, and that it’s resulted in you keeping away from people, and not taking chances. But, that said, maybe, sometimes you should give yourself a break and take a risk, try and make some new friends. If it goes bad, it’s not because of you, it’s because the other person is an idiot.” Cas laughed a little at that.

“Maybe I should, eventually. I don’t feel ready for it right now though.” Castiel pulled a hand over his face.

“That’s fine, but when you do, Gabe and I will be there for you.” Gad squeezed Cas’ shoulder and they smiled at each other.

“Ok, enough serious talk for today, how about we watch some more of Cas crappy SciFi movies?” Gabriel started to make his way over to the living room, as Gadreel and Cas followed.


	3. Chapter 3

A month later, Castiel was sitting at his computer, having just put the finishing touches on his latest project. He was craving a caramel macchiato, and since he’d finished earlier than anticipated, he decided he deserved a treat. He made his way to his favorite café, where the baristas were used to him, and didn’t react to him being scentless. There was a line of about eight people, so Cas pulled out his phone to check his work email. He was reading a message from a magazine he’d worked with a few times before, when a familiar voice caught his attention. He looked up and saw Dean ten feet ways, laughing at something a blonde girl had just said.

Castiel froze with the excitement of seeing Dean again, mixed with the fear of Dean noticing him and discovering that he was a Null. He was trying to figure out what to do, when someone bumped in to him from behind.

“Oh my god, why are you just standing there? The line is moving?” A loud voice spoke up, and Cas turned to see two annoyed teenage girls glaring at him.

“I-I’m sorry, I was lost in thought.” He said and took a step forward.

“Cas?” He turned to the side and locked eyes with a smiling Dean. Castiels stomach dropped, and he started stuttering, Dean frowned and Cas could see him scenting the air. Then, one of the teens gasped.

“He’s a Null! No wonder he’s too dumb to even handle standing in line!”

“Oh, my god, Kelly! That’s so rude!” the other girl said, before starting to giggle. Cas noticed that people turned to look at him, and he felt his anxiety spike. He looked back at Dean, who wore a look of dawning realization on his face. Cas started to panic, turned around and bolted out of the café. He was walking down the street as fast as he could, breathing heavily and trying to reign in his distress, when he heard steps running up to him. Someone put a hand on his shoulder, turned him around, and suddenly he was face to face with Dean. Castiels eyes grew wider and he didn’t know whether he should push Dean away and make a run for it, or not.

“Hey, Cas, wait, calm down!” Dean grabbed his other shoulder as well and kept him in a firm grip, forcing Cas to look at him.

“Those girls were assholes, ok? Please, don’t run, let’s talk, ok?” Dean looked so worried Cas relaxed, looked down at his feet and nodded. Dean let go of his shoulders, took his hand and led him to a nearby park, where they sat down on a bench. Castiel kept his eyes downcast, nervously picking at a cuticle.

“Fucking brats, if they weren’t so young, I’d kick their asses.” Dean nearly growled, and Cas looked up in surprise.

“Sorry, they pissed me off. Anyway, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, it just got a bit… overwhelming.” Cas fidgeted with his sleeve.

“Well, what they did, wasn’t cool. I hope that doesn’t happen a lot?” Dean looked worried again.

“No, not here. People usually, just… avoid me. It was way worse in my hometown though.” Cas felt ashamed admitting that. He was once again surprised, when Dean squeezed his hand.

“I’m sorry to hear that, some people can be real shitheads.” Cas made himself look up into Deans eyes again.

“You, uh, don’t find it awkward that I’m practically scentless?” It was Deans turn to look surprised.

“No? Not really? I mean, sure, it’s different, and a bit strange not being able to read your scent. But, it’s not like you can read someone’s scent when they’re on blockers either so…” Dean scratched the back of his neck, looking embarrassed, but sincere.

“So, you don’t feel uncomfortable sitting this close to me? I know my lack of scent make a lot of people feel uneasy.” Castiels voice quivered at the end and Dean squeezed his hand again.

“No, it doesn’t. As I said, it’s different, but not in a bad way, just… it’s something new? To be honest, I’ve never met someone with a Null status before, and I don’t really know a lot about it. I’m sorry if I’m saying anything offensive, I don’t mean to.”

“Y-you’re not, and we’re kind of rare, there’s around two hundred thousand of us in the U.S. It’s not that strange you haven’t met any before.”

“Wow, that rare, huh? What causes it, is it a hormonal thing or something?”

“They think so, but no one really knows. There’s not that much research on it, but there’s this specialist doctor called Pamela Barnes, who is conducting several studies, trying to find out more about the condition. I occasionally donate blood and other samples to help with the research.”

“So, it’s research to find out what causes it?” Dean seemed intrigued by the subject, and it made Castiel want to tell him more.

“Yes, that and also if maybe there’s something that can be done about it, to make us finally present.”

“Oh, it’s not a permanent condition?”

“For most of us, it probably is? Again, they don’t know. But, there’s two known cases where a Null has presented later in life. The first one is from the 1920s, a man who suddenly presented as a Beta when he was 74 years old, but there’s no detailed records about it. The second one was a 41 year old woman in the 70s, she suddenly presented as an omega, no one cared to do any tests as to find out why. When Dr. Barnes found out about her, the woman had unfortunately passed away in a car crash, together with her mate. I don’t hold any hope for myself ever presenting, but I do what I can to help, and hopefully it might be of help to someone else in the future? I don’t know…” Castiel looked at Dean, who seemed a bit conflicted.

“Sounds like it’d be great to find out more about it. I feel like it shouldn’t matter whether you guys ever present, though. People should accept you for what you are. So what if you don’t have a scent?” Castiel smiled at Dean, he had not expected this kind of open mindedness.

“It’s more than that. We can’t scent others, I can’t tell an alpha from an omega or beta, unless they look and act very stereotypical, but even then, I can’t be sure.” Dean made quiet “oh” at that.

“Also, uh, since we don’t have a scent, and can’t scent others…” Castiel braced himself.

“…We can’t scent bond, and others can’t scent bond with us, making it impossible to mate…if we bite someone, it’s just a bite.”  They were both quiet for a moment, then Cas looked up at Dean. Instead of the pity he’d expected to see there, he saw sadness. Dean took a shuddering breath before he started talking again.

“I had no idea. That really must suck. I’m guessing dating can be… challenging?” Castiel huffed a sad little laugh.

“Yeah, you could say that. It’s almost impossible to date and be in a long, lasting relationship with someone who’s presented. It happens, sure, but it’s extremely rare. Most Nulls use online dating sites to find other Nulls. Many chooses to stay single, though.”

“That’s…I don’t now what to say… Loving someone is so much more than scenting, if you really love someone it shouldn’t matter, right? Like, sure, scenting is great and all, and it’d be quite a change, especially for alphas and omegas, you’d have to rewire the way you’re used to think…fuck, I’m making it worse, aren’t I? What I’m trying to say is, it’s absolutely doable, especially when you love someone. I’ll shut up now.” Deans face was a deep red, and he groaned as heput his face in his hands. Castiel looked astounded, then he started to giggle, then he was suddenly roaring with laughter. Dean soon joined in, and Castiel didn’t even care that people passing by gave them weird looks. They soon calmed down, and Dean pulled a hand through his hair, while Cas wiped away the tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I knew I’d make an ass out of myself.” Dean smiled self-consciously.

“No, you didn’t, I really appreciate that you’re so accepting of all of this. It’s rare to meet people like you, and that makes it hard to make friends.”

“Well, I’d love to be your friend, Cas.” Dean smiled at him.

“I’d love that, too, Dean.” Cas smiled back

“Great, ‘cause you’re stuck with me now!” Both men grinned wide at each other.

 

 

“See? I told you it’s good to take a chance once in a while!” Gabriel was pointing at Castiel with his fork, almost making the meatball fall off. Castiel had been telling Gabe and Gad about his earlier encounter with Dean, during dinner.

“Yeah, I guess you were right.” Castiel smiled at him.

“Little Cassie, making a new friend! I feel like a proud mother!” Gabe used his napkin to dry away fake tears.

“Little? I’m both older and taller than you, Gabe.” Castiel huffed.

“Whatever! When are you hanging out with your new best friend again?”

“Woah! No one tries taking my place, or I’ll have to make them “disappear”.” Gadreel playfully growled.

“No one can replace you, Gad. We haven’t made any plans yet, but we did exchange numbers.”

“How about you ask him to come with us when we go see the new Star Wars movie, he likes scifi, right?” Gadreel suggested.

“That’s a great idea, I’ll contact him later!”

 

When they had finished dinner and Gadreel had gone home, Cas decided to text Dean.

Cas – hey

Cas – you want to come watch The Last Jedi with me and a friend?

Castiel was surprised when he got an answer just a few minutes later.

Dean – hi cas

Dean – love to

Dean – when

Cas – 8pm thursday

Dean – that works

They texted some more about when to meet up, and where. Castiel was excited to spend some more time with Dean. He’d never thought he’d be able to make any more friends after college. Maybe he should try going out more, as Gabriel always told him to.

 

Gadreel was getting the tickets, while Cas waited for Dean. It had taken Castiel forever to choose what to wear, which was ridiculous, since they were just three friends watching a movie together. He’d first decided on a button down, but then felt over dressed, and opted for a light blue Henley instead. He’d also put on some Null-block, not wanting to deal with any stares or worse, this evening. Cas heard someone call his name, saw a smiling Dean approaching him,and couldn’t help but smile wide himself.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hi, Cas, how’re you doing?”

“Good, looking forward to the movie.”

“Me too! This is gonna be awesome!” Right then, Gadreel came back with the tickets, Deans face fell, but he soon regained his smile.

“Hey, nice seeing you again, Dean!”

“Yeah, nice seeing you too, Gadreel.” Was Cas imagining things, or did Deans voice sound a bit strained?

“How about you guys tell me what snacks you want, and I’ll go get it for us?”

“Thanks, Gad. Popcorn and a coke for me, please. How about you, Dean?” Castiel asked.

“Uhm, same for me thanks.” Gadreel nodded and went over to the concession stand. Dean was frowning and had crossed his arms over his chest. The change in mood made Cas feel nervous.

“Is something wrong, Dean?” Dean sighed and stopped frowning.

“No, not really, but… You should have told me you were bringing Gadreel, I could’ve brought a date of my own.” Castiel blanked at the comment.

“Date?” he asked, feeling confused.

“Yeah? Third wheeling is a bit awkward.”

“What do you mean? I told you I was bringing a friend?”

“Yeah, friend, not _boy_ friend.” The coin finally dropped for Cas.

“Gad? Why would you think he’s my boyfriend?” It was Deans turn to look confused.

“But… When I stayed over, he came out of your bedroom, practically naked?”

“He likes sleeping in his underwear, we’re close enough to be family, so Gabe and I probably wouldn’t care even if he was completely naked. Also, he had to sleep in my room, since the couch was occupied?” Cas quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh? Oooh…right. Well, I feel a bit stupid.” Dean laughed.

“Easy mistake, I guess.” They smiled at each other for a moment, then Dean scratched the back of his neck.

“So, like, just to be clear, you and Gadreel…?”

“Never happened, never will.” Cas deadpanned.

“Cool. Uhm, are you dating someone else then?”

“No, as you know, it’s a bit… complicated for me…” Cas said, awkwardly.

“Shit, yeah, right, sorry. Idiot, remember?” Dean pointed to himself, while blushing.

“No, it’s kind of nice that you don’t assume I’m single, that’s usually what people do.”

“Seriously? Hard to believe when you look the way you do, especially in that shirt.” Dean winked, making Cas lost for words. Dean then blushed again and looked away.

“I-I mean, it’s b-blue and your eyes are blue, and I’m just saying they go well together. Shutting up now.” Castiel laughed.

“Ok, thanks. How about you then? Dating anyone?”

“Nope, very single at the moment.” That statement made Cas feel…happy? Weird.

“Hey guys! I need some help with carrying all this stuff!” Gadreel called out to them, and they both hurried off to help him out. They then proceeded to find their seats. After the movie all three of them went to get some burgers and ended up discussing the movie long into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

The following month, Castiel and Dean would hang out at least once a week. Sometimes they'd be alone, and sometimes Gadreel would join them. They texted a  lot and they'dsen each other funny pictures and videos.. Castiel was watching a video Dean had sent him, of a cute dog scaring itself with its own snoring, when Gabriel came into his room.

Hi, Cassie! I’m here to give you a heads up that my heat is on its way.” Gabriel threw himself on Castiels bed, making them both bounce.

“Ok, when do you need me out of the apartment?”

“You’re making it sound like I’m throwing you out! You are welcome to stay, it’s your home too. Buuut, since Justin is coming over to help me out again, and you don’t really seem to appreciate the sounds…” Gabriel tried his best to sound innocent.

“You are absolutely right, I do not! So, again, when do you need me to get out?” Castiel rolled his eyes.

“It’ll probably hit sometime during Friday.”

“Ok, I’ll ask Gadreel if I can stay at his place from Thursday.”

“Great! Only one tiny problem though… He has that date with Anna on Saturday, and her roommate is home…you catching my drift here?” Castiel groaned. Right, Gads new girlfriend.

“I’ll get a motel room for Saturday…”

“I can split the cost with you?”

“No, there’s no need, you should be able to spend your heat in peace.” Castiel waved his hand dismissively.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I can afford it, don’t worry, I’ve been getting a lot of assignments lately.” It was true, his workload was picking up fast, he’d even been able to say no to a couple of projects he didn’t find particularly interesting.

“Well, we’re all set then! I’m calling Justin!” Gabriel jumped out of the bed and ran off to his own bedroom.

Castiel picked up his phone and called Gadreel. When they hung up, Cas started to look online for decent motels in the area. He was thinking of making a reservation at one, when a new message from Dean popped up.

Dean – hey

Cas – hi

Dean – what you doing

Cas – lookin at motels

Cas – you have any recommendations

Dean – here?

Dean – and why?

Cas – time for Gabes heat...

Cas – can’t stay at gads place sat

Dean – stay at mine?

Dean – watching movies with friends sat evening

Dean – join us

Castiel felt a thrill run down his spine. Staying at Deans dorm room? Could he do that? They’d become good friends, so it should be ok. But, the thought of meeting Deans friends made him seriously nervous. He could use his blocker to avoid anyone being uncomfortable around him. But what if they already knew and it’d be awkward anyway? Castiel considered the pros and cons, when his phone buzzed again.

Dean – I can hear your thinkin all the way here

Dean – it’s my bffs, theyre cool

Dean – no pressure tho

Maybe it was time to take a chance again? Castiel made up his mind.

Cas – thanks

Cas – what time?

Dean – the others get here at 8

Dean – you can come whenever after 2 tho

Cas – I’ll be over at 4

Cas – thanks again

Dean – no prob

Castiel was starting to plan what to bring with him to Deans, when his phone once more buzzed.

Dean – no need to use that block stuff btw

Dean – unless you want to ofc

Dean - my friends know

Oh. Dean had told them about him. Castiel debated what to do. The Null-block was expensive, so he tried not to use it too often, and it might be a good idea to try meeting more people, while not wearing it, see if they were ok with it like Dean. But, he didn’t want Deans friends to feel uneasy around him. Then he figured he could bring it with him and use it if anyone was uncomfortable. Content with his compromise, he texted Dean back.

Cas – i’ll try it

Dean – cool

 

Castiel was packing a smaller bag for his stay at Deans place, while Gadreel was doing some cleaning before Annas arrival.

“I think it’s great that you’re going over there without using the blocker. I honestly don’t see the problem with your lack of scent, if anything it’s refreshing. Too strong scents from people you’re not compatible with, now _that’s_ something to be uncomfortable around!” Gadreel made a face of disgust, making Castiel laugh.

“I wouldn’t know, but I’ll take your word for it.” Castiel kept smiling, he had gotten over most of his nerves and was looking forward to meeting Deans friends. He finished packing, while humming a happy little tune, only to look up into Gadreels grinning face.

“What?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking this friendship with Dean’s been good for you. Two months ago you would have never even considered doing something like this. I mean, you’ve avoided meeting most of my other friends.”

“I’m sorry…” Castiel suddenly felt bad, he hadn’t thought about that. He didn’t want to hurt Gads feelings.

“No, that's not what I mean! It’s completely fine that you haven'tmrt them. What I’m trying to say is that you're getting the confidence and opportunity to live a normal life, making new friends on your own, and that's a great thing."

"Well, I guess I need some new friends, now that you're going to be spending all your free time with Anna." Castiel joked.

"Fuck you, you've been staying here for two days so far. Didn't know you were that needy." Gadreel grinned.

 

"I can never get enough och you, Gad. Tell Anna I said hi!"  Castiel threw his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

“Will do, have fun tonight!”

 

Castiel had parked his car and was making his way up the stairs to Deans floor. It was his first time going over to Deans, they usually met in town or at Cas place, since Deans room was small. He found Deans room number and knocked on the door. The door swung open almost immediately.

“Hi, Cas!”

“Hello, Dean.”

They smiled and Dean ushered Cas inside. The room was small, but clean and well organized, there was a bookshelf, a wardrobe, a desk with two large computer screens, a mini fridge, and a bed. The walls were decorated with different band posters.

“Nice room, mine was a total mess when I was in college.”

“Thanks, I try my best.” Dean said with a nervous laughter.

“Is that a bathroom door?”

“Yeah, it is. This is an omega dorm, so all rooms have their own bathrooms.

“That makes sense." Cas thought it couldn't be fun to be on your heat and having to use a shared shower room.

“You can sit down on the bed, since I don’t have a couch.” Castiel put his bag by the door and did as Dean suggested.

“Do you want to watch a show or something?”

“Sure.”

“I have both Netflix and Hulu, so we can see if we find anything interesting.”

“Such a luxury for a college student.” Castiel joked.

“Heh, yeah, they’re actually my parents accounts, but they rarely use them.”

“Ah, that explains it then.”

“So, uh, how about… Doctor Who?” Dean said after some scrolling.

“Sounds good, how about season four?”

“Ten and Donna? Fuck yeah!”

They watched for a couple of hours, then they ordered and ate some pizza. They keptwatching Doctor Who until there was a loud knock on the door. Dean got up and let in his friends in.

“Hiya, Rocket!” A short, red haired girl threw herself around Deans neck, she was closely followed by the blonde girl Cas had seen Dean with at the café.

“Hi Red, hi Joanna Beth.”

“Fuck you.” The blonde girl said as she passed Dean. The redhead let go of Dean and walked up to Castiel.

“You must be Cas! I’m Charlie, and Miss Sunshine over here is my girlfriend, Jo. Only Jo, if you want to keep all of your limbs intact.” Castiel reciprocated Charlies wide smile with one of his own.

“Nice to meet you, Charlie and Jo.” Cas shook both of their hands. Jo then made a 360 turn, looking around the room.

“What happened here? Did you get robbed or something?” She turned to Dean.

“What do you mean?” He asked with a pout, that Castiel absolutely did not find adorable.

“Seriously? I’ve never seen your room look this clea…”

“SO! Cas! Dean tells me you work as a freelancer? That sounds awesome! I’m in computer science, and I’m thinking of going freelance when I graduate, be my own boss, all that. Maybe you can give me a few tips?” Charlie quickly interrupted, as she sat down beside Cas.

“Yeah, sure. Are you taking any business courses? I found that very helpful.”

“Oh, I haven’t thought about that, that’s great advice!” Charlie beamed at him. Jo sat down too and grabbed one of Deans many throw pillows, studying it.

“Where did all these pillows and blankets come from, are they new?” She asked Dean, who blushed.

“Ow! Charlie!” Jo hissed.

“So sorry, babe! My elbow slipped! I need to use the bathroom, why don’t you come with me?” Charlie stood up and started pulling on Jo’s arm.

“Why do we both need to go?”

“Haha, silly Jo, ‘cause we’re girls!” Charlie pulled Jo with her into the bathroom and closed the door. Cas and Dean soon heard them whispering, but couldn’t make out the words. Castiel could feel his anxiety starting up, he’d really hoped he wouldn’t have to use the blocker.

“Sorry about those two, they’re very… energetic.” Dean said and sat down next to Cas.

“It’s ok Dean, I’m used to it. I guess I should have put on the Null-block before they got here.” Castiel said quietly. Dean frowned, then his eyes widened and he placed a hand on Cas’ arm.

“Cas, no, that’s not what’s going on, I promise.” Dean said urgently.

“Don’t worry, it’s ok, I get it. I brought my blocker just in case, I’ll put some on.” Cas tried to stand up, but was pulled down again by Dean, he looked angry.

“Charlie! Jo! Get out here!” Dean growled, and the whispering abruptly stopped. Then there came a hesitant flush from the bathroom, before both girls came stumbling out.

“What’s wrong, Dean?” Charlie asked with wide eyes.

“The two of you are making Castiel uncomfortable, he thinks you’re acting weird because he’s unpresented.” Castiels face went beet red, he had not thought Dean’d be that blunt. This was beyond humiliating.

“WHAT!? Oh, no! I’m so sorry! I really am! I promise that’s not it!” Charlie looked crestfallen, and Jo was blushing almost as bad as Cas himself.  Jo took a step forward and put one of Cas' hands gently in hers.

“I’m sorry too, Cas. I can see how you might have drawn that conclusion, but you’re wrong. Charlie and I, uh, had a fight on the way over here, and we didn’t really resolve it before we knocked on the door, which was stupid. It had absolutely nothing to do with you.” Jo looked and sounded very sincere, and when Cas looked at Charlie she looked as if she was on the verge of crying. Castiel relaxed, even if he still felt rather awkward.

“I see, I guess I jumped to conclusions. I’m sorry too.” Jo squeezed his hand and smiled, before letting go.

“Nah, it was all our fault.” Jo said as she stood up straight again.

“Yeah, it was.” Dean muttered.

“Yeah, sorry Dean.” Jo said and ruffled his hair.

“So, we’re all ok now?” Charlie asked with a quivering voice.

“Yeah, we are.” Castiel smiled, and suddenly he had his arms full of Carlie, hugging him tightly.

“Ok, Charlie, let him go before you suffocate him.” Dean huffed and then ended up with Charlie clinging to him instead. He eventually managed to get out of the hug and they all decided to watch a bunch of horror classics, starting with “The Thing”.

It was a fun evening and Castiel found himself really liking Jo and Charlies company. They didn’t act strange at all for the rest of the night. When they were at the middle of the third of the movies, and had downed maybe five beers each, Jo was asleep, leaning on Charlie where they were sitting on the floor in front of the bed. Dean was awake, but resting his head in Cas’ lap, while Cas was carding his fingers through Deans hair.

“I’m sorry guys, but I think I should be getting Jo back home. I can barely keep my eyes open anyway.” Charlie said, and Dean turned off the movie and sat up.

“You need any help waking the dragon?” He asked Charlie.

“No, she’ll just bite your fingers off. She’s more careful with mine, nudge nudge, wink wink.” Charlie giggled.

“Say no more.” Dean smiled.

Charlie managed to get Jo to her feet and waved the guys goodbye as they closed tge door. Castiel was lying down on the bed, not feeling particularly fond of the idea of having to get up again. Dean crashed down beside him.

“I’m so tired!” He whined.

“Me too, I don’t think I’ll be able to sit up again.” Cas mumbled. Dean gave him an hesitant look, then sat up and pulled one of the blankets over them as he lied down again.

“Then don’t, let’s just sleep like this.”

“Great idea…” Cas mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

When Castiel woke up, he was slightly confused about why he was hugging a large, firm, warm body pillow. Then he remembered where he was, opened his eyes and gasped as he realized that he was spooning Dean, legs completely tangled up, and his nose buried in Deans neck. He felt a little embarrassed that he was clinging to his friend the way he was. He could tell from Deans steady breathing, that he was still asleep. Cas decided to try and untangle himself from Dean, as to avoid any awkwardness ig Dean woke up. He’d do it soon, it was just so comfortable and felt…nice. He rubbed his nose against Deans neck, and then froze. What was he doing? Dean was his friend and, this behavior was not acceptable. Castiel started to move his legs, but froze again, with dread, when he felt his morning wood poke Dean in the back. This was not happening, oh please God, don’t let Dean wake up!

Castiel tried to keep calm and not panic. He carefully scooted his hips back, so that his middle parts no longer touched Dean. Cas then slowly managed to get his legs untangled from Deans, and he was about to slip his arms free, when Dean sighed and started moving. Dean turned around, put an arm around Cas’ neck, threw a leg over his hip and buried his nose in the pit of Cas neck. Dean let out a content sigh, and then continued breathing evenly.

Ok, so Cas appearantly had to accept the fact that he was trapped. Sure, it was a surprisingly cozy trap, but a trap nonetheless. Luckily, their groins weren’t touching. Castiel tried to will his boner to go down by thinking about boring and disgusting things, like golf and corpses. It eventually worked, which was lucky, because moments later, Dean started to stir. Castiel looked down at the top of Deans head, and then he turned his face up and Castiel was met with bleary, green eyes.

“Mornin’ Dean.” Cas greeted, his voice deep and raspy from being unused. There was a glint in Deans eyes, but before Cas could figure it out, Dean was letting go of him and sitting up.

“Sorry, Cas, guess I’m kinda clingy in the morning, huh?” Dean joked with a nervous laugh. Deans voice sounded rougher too, Cas liked it.

“Who isn’t.” Castiel joked back, Dean not knowing how true it actually was.

“I, uh, need to use the bathroom.” Dean turned away, stood up and hurriedly went inside and locked the door. Soon Cas could here the shower running. When Dean finally got out, Cas took a shower too. Then the both of them went to a diner for a late breakfast, before Castiel went back to Gadreels place.

 

“Sounds like an eventful sleepover.” Gadreel said after Castiel had told him about everything that had happened.

“Yeah, it was fun, even if this morning was a bit awkward.” Gadreel gave Cas a strange look.

“Cas, have you considered that maybe you like Dean more than as a friend?”

“No, Dean is… just a good friend.” Castiel gave his best friend a hard look, Gadreel looked skeptical and sighed

“Ok, just wondering. But, have you considered that maybe, just maybe, _Dean_ likes _you_ more than as a friend?” Castiel snorted a laugh at that.

“No, that’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because, he’s an omega, and scenting and scent bonding are more important to them than to any of the other subgenders. Also, Dean is very gorgeous, funny and smart, he’s way out of my league.”

“I think that you’re wrong about that, I think…” Gadreel began before Castiel interrupted him.

“And I think we should drop this subject.” Castiel stood up and walked over to guest room and closed the door.

 

On Monday, Castiel could finally go back home. He and Gadreel had pretended that their earlier conversation had never taken place. Another month passed and Castiel continued to spend a lot of time with Dean, both of them getting closer. Gabriel had started dating a female alpha named Kali and wouldn’t shut up about her. Cas had yet to meet her, he hoped she’d have no problem with his "situation", since Gabriel had broken up with people over that before.

Castiel was working, when his phone started ringing, displaying Gadreels name.

“Hey Gad, what’s up?”

“Hi, Cas. My boss is suddenly making me go on a business trip this weekend. It’s a really important contract, so I can’t say no. I’m so sorry, I really don’t want to leave you alone this weekend.” Gadreel sounded stressed.

“Oh. I see, don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault. It’s probably time I learn to deal with it on my own, anyway.” Castiel could hear his voice sounding strained.

“I was thinking, can’t you ask Dean to come over?”

“I don’t know… He doesn’t know about my family situation. I mean, he’s tried asking a couple of times, but I’ve kind of avoided the subject.” Dean seemed to understand that it was a sore subject, and didn’t push the topic.

“You don’t have to tell him anything, but it could be nice to have some company, taking your thoughts off things? I’d feel a lot better knowing you’re not alone.” Cas thought about it.

“Maybe, it’s not such a bad idea…”

“Right? At least on Saturday?”

“Yeah, ok, I’ll ask him.” Cas really didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts on Saturday, and being with Dean always cheered him up.

They finished their conversation and Castiel decided to contact Dean right away.

Cas – Hi

Cas – got any plans this sat?

As always, there wasn’t long before he got an answer.

Dean – nope

Dean – why?

Cas – wanna hang at my place?

Dean – sure

Dean – but wasn’t this like a special wknd for u and Gad?

Castiel debated what to write back, he’d told Dean he and Gadreel had planned some kind of “best friend-weekend”.

Cas – yeah, but he’s forced to work

Dean – that sucks

Dean – when should I come over?

Cas – whenever

Dean – I finish work at 2, so after that?

Cas - sounds great

Castiel put down the phone and sighed with relief, he wouldn’t have to go through Saturday alone.

 

 

It was late at night, the TV was on in the background, but they weren’t paying much attention to it as Dean was telling Cas a story about how he’d pranked his little brother Sam once, by putting green hair dye in his shampoo.

“You didn’t!” Castiel laughed.

“Sure did, I mean, it was Saint Patrick’s day after all!” Dean snorted and Cas broke down into fits of laughter.

“I was grounded for like a month after, but it was so worth it!”

“You’re terrible!” Cas grinned.

“Yeah, when my grandpa found out, he lectured me on how it was unbecoming of an omega to act like that.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“What an ass!”

“Yeah, pissed off my mom so much, she told him to go fuck himself. Well, maybe not with those exact words, though. She even reduced my punishment with a week because of it.”

“I like your mom.” Cas smiled.

“Yeah? I think she’d like you too.” Dean got something soft in his eyes, as he smiled back at Cas. Castiels phone chimed, he took a look at it and saw that he had a new message from Gabriel. He put the phone down without opening it, frowning.

“Bad news?” Dean asked.

“Huh?”

“The text? You suddenly look like someone stole that fancy drawing pad ofyours, or something?”

“Oh, uh, no, just a text from Gabe.”

“Ok, did you two have a fight or something? Is that why he’s not home?”

“No, no fight. He’s gone back home over the weekend.” Cas gave Dean a stiff smile.

“I see… Does that have something to do with how you’ve seemed kinda down today?” Dean asked carefully. Cas looked down, set on changing the subject, but was surprised when his mouth had other plans.

“Yes…” Dean put a hand on Cas’ knee.

“Wanna talk about it?” Castiel was surprised again, when he realized that, yes, he did.

“It’s my little sister’s birthday today.” Castiel said quietly.

“Sister?”

“Yes. I’ve never mentioned her because… I’ve never met her. I really want to, though.” Cas was staring at his hands, so he couldn’t see Deans reaction.

“Then, how come you never have?”

“Our parents won’t let me see her. They don’t consider me their son anymore, barely even human…” Cas voice was trembling and he heard Dean draw in a sharp breath.

“That’s seriously fucked up, Cas. How old were you when…when you found out you were a Null?” Deans voice was thick with emotion.

“Seventeen.”

“Jesus… How old is your sister?”

“Six, she’s six, today.” He could feel Dean stiffen, putting two and two together.

“Oh, Cas…” That was it, Castiel couldn’t keep it together any longer. His shoulders started shaking and tears streamed down his face. Dean wrapped his arms around Cas and pulled him close, placing Cas’ face in the crook of his neck, where his scent glands were. Cas knew, thanks to Gabe, what an intimate gesture this was on Deans behalf. Omegas usually only ever let close family or mates scent them like this. Not that Cas could scent much, but he was still overwhelmed by it, and a warm feeling spread through his body. Cas wrapped his arms around Dean too, and pulled them even closer together. When Castiel finally started to calm down, Dean was rubbing circles with hands into Cas’ back.

“I’m sorry to unload on you like this…” Castiel mumbled against Deans neck.

“You have nothing to apologize for, this is part of being friends."

“I feel exhausted…”

“Then how ‘bout we lie down for a bit?” Castiel nodded and they moved around on the couch, until they were lying down on their sides, Dean spooning Cas with an arm draped over his chest.

“Can I ask you something else?” Dean softly asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Does she know about you?” Cas drew a shuddering breath.

“Thanks to Gabriel, yes. He’s told her she has a brother who can’t come see her, but who cares about her very much. She’s so young, I don’t think she really understands. I have Gabriel bring her gifts from me every birthday and Christmas though.”

“That doesn't piss them off?”

“They don’t know about it. Gabriel makes it seem like the presents are from him, but he tells Claire the truth when they’re alone. He says she’s eerily good at keeping secrets, guess it’s true since my parents haven’t found out yet.” They were both quiet for a moment.

“What did you get her this time?”

“Gabe told me she’s obsessed with Friendship is Magic, so I got her a Rainbow Dash plushie. I also designed a big birthday card with her as a pony, surrounded by all the other ponies.”

“That’s badass, Cas! You’re an awesome big brother.” Cas could hear the smile in Deans voice.

“Thanks.”

They were quiet after that, and soon Castiel drifted off to sleep.

 

The next day, Castiel and Dean were abruptly woken up when the door to the apartment slammed shut. Dean still had his arm wrapped around Cas, and both of them started to untangle and sit up, when Gabriel came stomping in, shouting.

“I am never going back to that hellhole, unless it’s to see Claire Bear, that’s for sure!” Gabriel stopped and gave Cas and Dean a curious look.

“Soo… Did I interrupt something, orrr…” Cas blushed and Dean choked on his spit and started coughing.

“What are you talking about, we’re fully clothed! We fell asleep on the couch, that’s all. Why are you home, you’re supposed to be back tomorrow?” Castiel asked, irritation lacing his voice.

“Uh, hello, I texted you about it last night?”

“I never read it, I thought you were sending me a picture of Claire or something, and I wasn’t ready to open it.”

“I’m getting the feeling that Dean is maybe up to date on our family drama?”

“…Yes.”

“Good! So, as I was saying, I’m never going back to see those idiots again!” Gabriel dramatically sat down in the armchair.

“Ok, what happened?” Castiel rubbed at his eyes, and he and Dean rearranged themselves so that they were sitting next to each other.

“We were having dinner, when dad tells me he has some exciting news. He turns to me, smiles brightly, and tells me he’s found a suitable spouse for me!” Gabriel looked as if he was ready to murder someone.

“Oh, god…” Castiel put his face in his hands.

“I know! He continues to tell me it’s some dull, freaking beta son to one of his clients. You remember the Armstrongs?”

“Oh, euw, not Marv?” Castiel wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Yes, Marv! I told dad I was already seeing someone, and where he could shove this so called spouse! Then you know what he did? He told me he would stop paying for my education if I didn’t act like a good little omega and do as he said!” That made Castiel groan.

“What the fuck is wrong with your families?” Dean asked, shocked.

“Oh, so many things, Dean-o! I told him to go ahead, that I would start living on the streets, and that I would be begging outside of his fancy law firm. He took back that threat lightning fast I tell you. But it didn’t keep him from trying to convince me to do “the right thing” and act lika "goodlittle omega", for the rest of the evening.”

“I don’t think I can handle any more of this without coffee.” Cas muttered, Gabriel and Dean agreeing. They made their way to the kitchen, where Gabriel continued his complaining all through breakfast.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, did I get this right, your parents belong to some sect-like church?” Dean asked.

“Yup.” Gabriel made a popping sound at the p.

“I guess that explains a lot…” Dean shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, enough of my whining! I have something great to show you, Cas!” Gabriel bagan to flip through his phone and then pushed it over to Cas, Dean leaned in to take a look as well. There was a blurry image with the small white play-button, indicating it was a video. Castiel pressed it and the video started.

The camera focused on a smiling girl, with long blonde hair, jumping up and down excitedly. She was wearing a dress and hugging a large pony plushie in her arms.

“What do you want to say to your big brother, Claire?” They could hear Gabriel ask.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best present ever!” She hugged the plushie close and beamed into the camera.

“Anything else?” Gabriel said.

“Yes! I look badass as a pony!” The girl’s eyes widened and she threw a hand over her mouth.

“Oh! Don’t tell mommy I said ass!” She hissed at, seemingly, Gabriel.

“I won’t.” Gabriel said and sniggered.

“You should draw more pictures of me as a Pony, Cassie! I’m gonna have more cake now! Bye, love you!” Claire then ran out of frame and the clip was over.

Castiel didn’t realize he was crying until Dean put his arm around his shoulders.

“You ok there, Cassie?” Gabriel asked softly.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. This is great, thank you so much, Gabe.” Castiel wiped at his tears and then played the clip three more times, before Gabriel made him scroll through a bunch of pictures that he’d taken during the birthday party. Cas couldn’t help but feel a sting in his heart when his parents appeared in some of the photos. They looked so happy, laughing and smiling with Claire.

“I’m guessing mother and father didn’t ask about me, as usual.” Cas already knew the answer, but he couldn’t help asking anyway.

“No, sorry. Aunt Hester just did her usual thing where she asked me if I had finally gotten a place of my own, and if anyone really had low enough standards to hire “that Null”. I told her I was very happy living with my amazingly talented cousin and that you got more job offers than you could accept.”

“I see…”

“How about we change the topic? Any crazy people in your family, Dean?” Gabriel joked and managed to break the tension.

Dean told them about his grandma who was a firm believer in anything supernatural. They all hung out together for awhile after that, but eventually Dean said he had to get home and get some schoolwork done. Castiel offered to drive him, but Dean assured him he was fine with taking the bus and told Cas to get some rest. Cas felt drained, so he reluctantly agreed and said goodbye to Dean at the door. When he turned around, Gabriel was standing behind him, arms crossed.

“You and Dean seem to have gotten really close?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Dean’s very kind and understanding.”

“Yes, seem like it. So, how close exactly are we talking about here?” Gabriel smiled crookedly.

“What do you mean?”

“Are the two of you dating?”

“No, why would you ask that?”

“Because the two of you act more like a couple, than two friends. You should ask him out, make it official.”

“I’m not asking Dean out, and we’re not talking about this, anymore.“ Castiel tried to walk pass Gabriel, but was stopped when Gabe put a hand on his arm.

“I think we should talk about it. The way you talk about him, look at him, act around him, I’d say you’re in love with him.“ Gabriels voice was gentle, but it still agitated Cas.

“Not you, too! Gadreel and I have already had this conversation, I’m not in love with Dean, and Dean could never fall in love with me.” Castiel was starting to get worked up now.

“Oh boy, you are very wrong about Dean, Cassie. That guy is faaar gone on you.”

“Stop it, Gabe! Dean’s a great person, and friend, don’t mistake his kindness for love!”

“Cassie, I know Dean, I’ve seen him with other friends, with other _close_ friends, and he does not act the same way around them as he does you. If you ask him out, I know he’ll say yes. Happily so!”

“No, he won’t!” Castiel shouted and pushed Gabriels hand off him.

“Why are you getting so upset? This is a good thing, a great thing!”

“Because even if you’re right, even if I ask him out and he says yes, he will eventually leave me, and that would break me! I’d much rather stay friends and have him in my life forever!” Castiel realized he was nearly hyperventilating and tried to calm down his breathing.

“Why do you think he’d leave you?” Gabriel looked, and sounded, sad.

“Because he’s an omega, he’d eventually meet someone he’s scent compatible with, and he’d leave me!”

“If he loves you, he won’t care about someone else being scent compatible…”

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit, not you! It’s rare enough that omegas end up in long term relationships with betas, it’s unheard of with a Null! You and me both know how important scenting is to omegas, especially during your heats. I could never, truly satisfy him, nor could I properly comfort him during his heats.” Castiel had stopped shouting, but he was still talking rather loud.

“I get where you’re coming from, Cas, I do. But, Dean is not your average omega, I think you should give him some more credit.”

“Just, let it go, Gabriel! Dean is my friend, and that is all I’m ever going to think of him as.” Castiel said with emphasis.

Gabriel looked as if he was about so say something more, when the doorbell rang, making both of them jump. Thankful for the interruption, Castiel opened the door and saw Dean standing outside.

“Hi, Cas! I’ve left my keys here, a bit hard to get home without them. Luckily, I realized it before the bus had gone too far.” Dean said cheerfully, while walking inside.

“Oh, any idea where they might be?” Castiel asked as he closed the door.

“I’m thinking the couch, they probably fell out while I slept.” Dean walked up the couch and started to feel around between the cushions.

“Aha! There they are!” Dean straightened up, spinning the keys around his finger.

“Well, guess I’ll be on my way again.” He started walking over to the door again.

“I can drive you, you’ve already lost time having to get off the first bus.” Castiel started looking for his shoes.

“No need, I feel like taking the bus anyway and you should rest. Talk to you later!” And with that Dean was out the door.

“Shit…” Gabriel mumbled.

“What?” Castiel sighed while rubbing the ridge of his nose, this day was giving him a brutal headache.

“D..no, nothing, it’s nothing.” Gabriel said wearily.

“Ok, I’m going to my room now.” Castiel said, and Gabriel let him.

 

The next week, there was a heavy decrease in texts from Dean, he also took a lot longer to answer any of Castiels messages. Cas tried not to think about what it might mean, but when he twice asked Dean if he could hang out, and Dean declined both times, saying he was busy, Cas started to stress out a little. It was also strange for Dean not to suggest another time that they could meet up instead. The next Monday, when Castiels suggestion to hang out got declined, he couldn’t reel in his anxiety. After a lot of inner turmoil, he finally got up the nerve to ask Dean what was going on.

Cas – so…

Cas – I was wondering

Cas – did I do something to upset you?

This time, Deans reply didn’t take too long.

Dean – no

Dean – why’d you think that?

Castiel bit his lip, was he overreacting? No, something felt wrong.

Cas – are you sure?

Cas – I understand if it got a bit too much last time

Cas – my life is a bit of a mess

Cas – I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable

He waited a little, and then his phone started ringing. It was Dean. Cas had to force himself to answer, expecting Dean to tell him they shouldn’t be friends anymore.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Cas, listen, you did _not_ make me uncomfortable. I’m glad you feel safe enough with me to tell me these things, ok?”

“OK…” Castiel was waiting for the “but…”.

“I’m sorry I’ve been absent, there’s just so much to do in school with only one month left of this term. I also have to prepare for my internship.” Dean sounded tired.

“I understand, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume…” Cas started, but Dean interrupted him.

“It’s ok, I get why’d you worry. How about this, you come over to my place on Thursday, and we’ll watch a movie together with Jo and Charlie?”

“It can wait, you have a lot to do, I should have thought about that.” Cas said, although he really wanted to see Dean.

“No, you come by on Thursday, I need the break. Also, I want to see you too, ok?” The smile in Deans voice calmed Cas, and he smiled too.

“Ok, I’ll come.”

“Great! I’ll text you the time. I will probably keep being crap at texting you back for a while though.”

“That’s understandable, Dean. I see you Thursday.”

“Yeah, see you, Cas.”

They hung up and Cas felt a lot better.

 

Charlie and Castiel had arrived at Deans place at the same time, and were now sitting on Deans bed, talking. Charlies nose would occasionally twitch and she’d scratch at it every now and then. Castiel hoped it wasn’t because of him, but it was probably something else, since she’d never done it around him before. Dean was rather quiet, but would smile and occasionally comment on their conversation. There was a loud knocking and Dean opened the door for Jo.

“Whoa, Dean! You need to throw on some blockers if this is what you’re going to smell like tonight! It’s a real downer.” Jo stepped inside and used her hand to fan her face, then she noticed Cas and Charlie, and stiffened.

“Oh! I thought I was the first one here! Hi guys! Nice to see you again, Cas!”

Hi Jo, nice to see you, too. Um, is there something wrong, Dean?” Was Dean sad? Why? He hated that he wasn’t able to scent like normal people. Dean turned around and smiled weakly.

“One of my assignments aren’t going very well. I’ll try to cheer up now that all of you guys are here though.” Right then, Charlie sneezed.

“And I’ll put on some blockers so Miss Sensitive Nose over there can relax.” Dean said and motioned to Charlie, who looked a bit sheepish. When Dean went into the bathroom, Jo opened the window.

When Dean came back, they turned on the movie and Castiel was a bit surprised when Charlie continued to sit beside him on the bed, and Dean sat down on the floor with Jo. They had a nice time watching the movie, but when Cas left, he couldn’t help but feel like there had been a bit of a distance between Dean and him.

The next three weeks continued much the same way, with few texts and not being able to hang out. Dean called Cas a couple of times though. Cas couldn’t shake the feeling of there being a weird distance between them. Cas figured it was because of the school stress and Dean getting ready for his summer internship at a major motor company, but it still felt a bit unsettling.

Castiel was very excited when Dean finally invited him over again. They were currently watching a movie at Deans place, together with Charlie and Jo. Dean was writing on his phone a lot, and it kept buzzing with new messages. Jo suddenly threw at pillow at Deans face.

“Dude! Are you even watching the movie? Who are you texting with? I know it can’t be Cas, ‘cause he’s sitting right here.” Dean threw the pillow back at Jo, but she easily ducked out of the way.

“Just this guy…” Castiels stomach made an unpleasant summersault at that.

“A guy? What guy?” Charlie asked, and all three of them were now staring at Dean, movie forgotten. Dean blushed.

“Just a guy from one of my classes…” Dean glanced at Cas, but then quickly looked away again.

“Yeah, we’re gonna need more than that, spill!” Charlie demanded, slapping Deans foot.

“Ok…uh, his name’s Aron and we both take “Fluid dynamics”. He came up to me the other day and asked if I’d like to go for a coffee, so we did. We’ve been texting for a bit and we’re having dinner together next Thursday…” Cas’ chest and throat started to ache, but he kept his facial expression neutral.

“What? You’ve got a date? That’s awesome! Is he an alpha? Is he handsome?” Charlie asked, excitedly.

“No, he’s a beta, and yeah, he’s cute.” Castiels stomach felt as if it was trying to turn itself inside out.

 “You’ve got to call me right away when the date is over, and tell me all bout it!” Charlie squeeked, making Dean laugh.

“Take it easy, Red, or you might combust.”

“Speaking of next week, how about we go out next Friday to celebrate you and Charlie surviving this term?” Jo suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Charlie eagerly agreed.

“Sounds good.” Dean smiled.

“You’re coming too, right Cas?” Jo asked.

“Yeah, sure…” He smiled, but it felt strained, no one seemed to notice though, as they started discussing where to go.

When Castiel got back home, he went straight to bed, happy that Gabriel was at Kali’s place. Lying in bed, he tossed and turned, feeling anxious and angry at himself. Dean was his friend, he should feel happy for him. Dean was amazing, beautiful and talented, it was strange he hadn’t already been on a bunch of dates during the time they’d known each other.  Maybe he had though, and hadn’t told Castiel? His stomach churned uncomfortably, and Cas felt ashamed over his feelings. This had to stop, he’d be supportive of Dean and he was sure that these crappy feelings would fade with time. It took him over three hours before he fell asleep from exhaustion.

 

At 10pm the next Thursday, Cas figured Dean might be done with the date, and pulled up his phone.

Cas – good date?

He then waited for twenty minutes before his phone chimed.

Dean – yeah, it was nice

Cas fought against the dark feelings swirling around in his stomach.

Cas – great

Cas – will there be a second date?

Dean – nothing planned yet

Dean – but he kissed me, so probably?

Castiel closed his eyes, and took a few deep, steadying breaths, before replying.

Cas – nice

Cas – hope he was a gentleman about it

Dean – he was

Cas – good

Cas – see you tomorrow

Dean – c u

Castiel felt like punching something.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be busy for a few days,I'll try to write as much as possible, but I'm not sure I'll have the time to post tomorrow or on Saturday.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments, they warm my heart! <3

They had been at the bar for two hours, it was crowded, the music was loud, and Cas just wanted to go home. He felt gloomy and irritated, but tried his best not to show it, he didn’t want to ruin his friends’ night. All four of them were hanging out at the bar, currently listening to Charlie telling a story about her latest LARP adventure.

“Dean? Is that you?” Castiel looked around and saw a short, bearded, brown haired guy approach Dean.

“Aron?” Cas’ mood plummeted at the name, Charlie and Jo were all excited smiles though. Dean looked surprised.

“Hi Dean! Fancy seeing you here!” Aron went for a hug and Dean reciprocated. Castiels upper lip twitched and he fisted his hands. He was very grateful for being scentless, or the others had been giving him weird looks by now.

“Yeah, I had no idea you’d be here tonight.” Dean said, smiling. Cas hated that smile.

“My friends dragged me out, thought we needed some drinks now that the term has ended!” Aron smiled goofily, cheeks flushed, looking like he’d already downed at least a few already.

“We’re celebrating the term ending too. These are my friends by the way.” Dean said as he motioned towards Cas, Jo and Charlie.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Dean’s friends!” Aron said and shook hands with everyone and getting their names. Castiel struggled to keep his cool, smile and not crush the little gnomes hand. Aron stood closer to Dean, too close for Cas taste. Jo and Charlie started to ask Aron a bunch of questions, curious about the guy who Dean had been on a date with. Castiel kept quiet, occasionally stealing glances of Dean. Everytime Dean smiled or laughed at something Aron said, it made something dark swirl inside of Cas. Arons voice and laughter grated on Cas’ nerves. Castiel excused himself and went to the bathroom. In there he splashed cold water onto his face, trying to calm down. He took a few deep breaths and felt a little more in control of the situation.

He walked out of the bathroom and made his way towards the bar again. As he got closer, he could see that Aron was standing even closer to Dean than before. Cas could feel the hairs on his neck stand up. Cas had just come up to the group, when Aron stood on his toes and kissed Dean on the mouth.

Cas’ mind went blank, and all he could feel was a white, hot rage. Without knowing what he was doing, he took a step towards Aron and let out a loud, deep, warning growl. Aron flinched, took a step back and stared at Castiel. Dean, Jo and Charlie were all staring at him as well, mouths agape. The disbelief on Deans face pulled Cas back to himself. His eyes widened, he opened and closed his mouth without any sounds escaping. What was he doing? What was wrong with him?  

“Whoa, didn’t know a beta could go all alpha like that!” He heard some girl say, right before panic and shame made him turn around and head towards the exit.

Cas stumbled outside and headed over to an alley, where he leaned his back against the wall, eyes closed. It felt hard to breath, so he unbuttoned his top two shirt buttons and took deep breaths of the fresh air. What had he done? Nulls never growled, betas rarely did either and not like that. He had overstepped so many boundaries. He put his shaking hands over his eyes.

There were steps approaching and they stopped in front of him.

“Cas… are you ok?” Deans voice came, sounding slightly cautious.

“No…I’m so sorry, Dean. That was very wrong of me.” Castiel kept his hands over his eyes, not wanting to see whatever look Dean was currently wearing on his face.

“Well, it might not have been the most appropriate behavior, but I’m guessing it wasn’t on purpose, was it?” The cautiousness was still there.

“No, it wasn’t, I swear! I have no idea how or why it happened.”

“I get not knowing how, ‘cause I’ve never heard anything like that from anything but an alpha before. But, there must have been a reason, right?” Dean sounded sad now, and it made Cas feel like shit.

“I don’t know, I…I don’t know…” Cas managed weakly, he didn’t know how to explain it.

“Cas. Please look at me…” Castiel was still scared of what he’d see, disgust, disappointment, but there was something in Deans voice that made him drop his hands from his face. Dean was standing a few feet in front of him looking… nervous and…hopeful? That made no sense. They looked into each others eyes, without speaking, and Cas felt as if he never wanted to look away.

“Now, I think you _do_ know why. Tell me, please…” Dean pleaded, still keeping eye contact.

 “I-I don’t know why, I… I saw him kiss you and…” Cas went quiet.

“And…?” Cas gave Dean a pained look. How were his eyes that green and beautiful?

“…I hated it.” Castiel whispered. Dean drew in a shuddering breath, and took another step closer.

“Why did you hate it?”

“Because…because…” Castiel nervously licked his lips.

“Yes?”

“It...it should have been me.” What?! Castiel panicked, and pushed himself off the wall.

“I’m so sorry, Dean! I shouldn’t have said that, I’m a terrible friend! I should just go.” Castiel started to turn away, but found himself pushed back against the wall. Deans face was only inches away, his eyes filled with emotion.

“Don’t you dare run away from this, we're not finished talking!” Deans voice was shaking, Cas stared at him.

“Tell me, am I only a friend to you? Or is there more?” Cas looked down to avoid Deans gaze, saw that his lips were trembling, and then met Deans eyes again.

“Yes, there’s more… a lot more. I’m sorry.” Why was he telling Dean all of this, he shouldn’t be! He was ruining everything. Dean let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Why are you apologizing? Can’t you see how I feel about you?” Dean gently caressed one side of Cas’ face.

“You can’t… you shouldn’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t give you what you need.” Dean looked confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re an omega…” Dean went from confused to royally pissed off, in under a second.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?! You think I’m some kind of weak willed omega, ruled by his biological whims?! I thought you knew me better than that!” The hurt on Deans face made Cas lungs constrict.

“No, I don’t think that! I know how strong you are, and how passionate you are about the people you love. I think you are the most amazing person I’ve ever met! That’s why I know you deserve so much better than me!” Dean stared at Cas in disbelief.

“That’s what this is about? You think you don’t deserve me?” Cas barely managed to nod, as he was trying his hardest not to start crying. Suddenly his face was caressed with both of Deans hands.

“Cas, you are everything that I could ever want. I can’t stop thinking about you, when we’re apart I’m counting the minutes until we’re together again. My world feels colorless without you.” Castiels heart was soaring at Deans words.

“...I feel the same.”

“Then let’s be together!”

“What if it doesn’t work out? I need you in my life.”

“No one can ever be sure a relationship will be forever, except maybe true mates, but that’s beside the point, ’cause they’re rare as fuck. What I’m trying to say is, we don’t know, there’s always a risk it won’t work out. But, there’s also the chance that it does. The thing is, you have to take a risk to find out, you have to jump off the cliff to ever have even the tiniest chance at happiness.” Dean looked at him pleadingly, eyes full of hope, and Cas felt all resistance drain from him.

“Ok.”

“Ok what?”

“I’ll jump.” Cas gasped when Deans face lit up with most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

 Cas didn’t know who took the initiative, but suddenly they were kissing. He reveled in the feeling of Deans soft, beautiful lips against his. He wrapped his arms around Dean and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Dean let out a content sigh and carded his hands through Castiels hair, before his arms ended up around Cas’ shoulders. Castiel felt almost dizzy at the sensation, and it felt as if his whole body was tingling. Dean broke the kiss and started to pull away to say something, but Cas closed the distance and kissed Dean over and over again, Dean in turn made a small surprised noise and smiled, before kissing back. Eventually Dean pulled away again and Cas reluctantly let him. Dean rested his forehead against Cas’, who rubbed their noses together, making Dean smile.

“Let’s go home, Cas.”

“Ok.”

Dean took Cas hand in his, and they started walking. When they passed by the entrance to the bar, Jo and Charlie came outside and stopped in front of them.

“Hey, are you two ok?” Charlie asked, both her and Jo looking worried.

“Yeah, everything’s peachy!” Dean said with a wide smile. Then the girls noticed their entwined hands, and their worried looks were replaced with huge smiles.

“Oh my god! Is this really happening!?” Charlie looked as if she was moments from jumping up and down with excitement.

“Sure is!” Dean looked happy, and Cas had a hard time grasping that it was because of him.

“I told you the friend-thing was a misunderstanding!” Jo said and punched Deans shoulder.

“What friend-thing?” Castiel asked, feeling as if he was missing something. Dean looked down and scratched his neck.

“I heard you tell Gabriel how you only saw me as a friend… your door isn’t exactly soundproof…” Dean looked embarrassed. Castiel blushed a deep crimson color.

“Oh god…”

“I..uh..I believed it and… I needed some space to deal with it…sorry.” Oh. That explained a lot.

“I feel like an ass, I’m sorry, Dean.

“You were both idiots, case closed!” Charlie chirped.

“Yeah, guess you’re right.” Dean smiled and squeezed Cas hand. Cas squeezed back.

 “Well, we’re going home, you ladies wanna share a cab?”

They did. Dean and Cas decided to go back to Cas’ place. They fell asleep in a tight embrace.

 

When Castiel woke up, he and Dean were once again tangled together. Unlike last time though, he sighed happily and pulled Dean closer. Dean made a soft noise and put his face in Cas’ neck. Castiel felt a thrill run up his spine. He put his nose in Deans hair and inhaled. This close he could scent Dean a little bit. Dean had a fresh smell that Cas couldn’t really pick out, but it was nice and calming.

Castiel couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that Dean felt the same way about him, that he was here, in his arms. He still had hisworries, but right nowhe onlywanted to focus on the good things. He traced his fingers down Deans spine, pulling up Deans t-shirt a little so he could put his hand on the small of his back, reveling in the warmth of Deans skin.

Dean started to stir, rubbing his nose against Cas’ neck, planting a small kiss at the base.

“Good morning, Dean.” Cas said and kissed the top of his head. Dean groaned.

“I love your voice in the morning.” He mumbled. Castiel laughed a little at the remark. Dean started trailing tiny kisses up Cas’ neck and up his chin, until he reached Cas’ mouth. They kissed and Castiels stomach erupted with what felt like a hundred butterflies.

“I also love your smile.” Dean said, and Cas realized he’d been smiling without knowing it.

“I love your smile, too. And your eyes. And your nose. And your freckles.” Cas started kissing every spot on Deans face, containing freckles, making it Deans turn to laugh. They were soon trading lazy kisses.

“I could stay like this all day.” Dean sighed.

“Me too.”

“Buuut… I have to pee.” Dean sat up abruptly and Cas whined.

“So sorry, but nature is calling. You can maybe get some coffee started?” Dean winked at him, before swinging his legs over the bed and standing up. Castiel groaned but agreed. He followed Dean out of the room and they ended up kissing outside of the bathroom, before Dean pushed him off and practically ran into the bathroom.

Castiel started the coffee machine, and then he went over to the fridge to see what they could have for breakfast. Dean came back and wrapped his arms around Castiels waist, kissing his neck.

“Whoa! Am I still asleep? Am I dreaming? Can someone pinch me please!?” They both turned around and saw Gabriel dramatically holding a hand over his heart.

“You are very much awake, Gabe.” Castiel grinned at his cousin.

“Are you sure?” Gabriel walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.

“Very sure.”

“Good, because I though you totally screwed things up the last time Dean was here. Glad to be wrong, though!”  Castielsmood dropped.

“What, you knew Dean heard us?” Cas voice had a sharp tone to it.

“Don’t sound so mad, you weren’t exactly in theright state to listen to me.” Cas relaxed a little.

“I guess you’re right. But how did you know?” Cas felt Deans arms tighten a little around him.

“Well, Dean-o here reeked of rejected omega, so it was hard not to put two and two together.” Castiel felt his stomach drop, if only he could scent things correctly, he would have known how Dean was feeling. As if Dean could sense his thoughts, he spoke up.

“That's history now. From now on we’ll just have to talk about our feelings, no moreassumptions and misunderstandings.” Cas smiled and nodded, leaning back into Deans embrace.

“If you need any help, I can tell you that Dean smells _very_ happy right now.” Gabriel smiled crookedly.

“Shut up, Gabe.” Cas looked back at a blushing Dean.

“Why don’t the two of you sit down, and I’ll make us all some breakfast, to celebrate you two love birds finally growing some balls?”

“You are too sweet, Gabe.” Castiel said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. They both did as he said though, sitting down next to each other.

Gabriel got breakfast ready and in the middle of eating, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the couple.

“Hey, why'd you do that?” Dean asked. Gabriel started sniggering while he was texting.

“Because you two look ridiculous and I need to show Gadreel.” Castiel frowned and Dean looked irritated.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, and Gabriel gave him an incredulous look, before starting to laugh.

“Are you kidding me? You two are practically sitting in each others laps!” Cas and Dean looked at themselves and how their chairs were pressing together. Dean had his legs over Castiels, and Cas had his arm around Deans back, while Dean was stroking Cas neck. They both blushed, before joining Gabriel in laughing. They didn’t move though. Soon Cas’ cell chimed and he took a look at it.

Gad – Congratulations!

Gad – I told you so!

Castiel smiled and shook his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler!  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Finally, some fluff! ;)


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the day was spent mostly cuddling, kissing and cuddling some more. Gabriel made fun of them more than a few times, but they didn’t care. They were currently snuggled up on the couch, not really paying any attention to what was showing on the tv. Gabe had told them he’d had enough of feeling like a third wheel and gone over to Kalis place. Dean was nuzzling Cas’ neck.

“It’s stupid that you’re called scentless, you’re not. Like, especially this close I pick up this really nice, kind of woodsy scent. Sure, it’s sort of faint, but it’s there.”

“Well, as children we do have the same amount of scent as any other, regular kid, and we have the hormone that makes it possible for our parents to pick up on our distress. But, when we don’t present, that hormone decreases over time until it’s gone. They think the lack of that hormone makes our scents fade with time as well. Nulls in their 70s and 80s usually are basically scentless. Anyway, our scents are less than a child’s and we’re lacking all the hormones that comes with presenting, so we’re practically scentless compared to the norm. “

“Well, I really like your scent, it makes me feel at home.” Cas blushed at the sincerity in Dean’s voice.

“I feel the same about yours…” He admitted. Dean sat up and looked at him, eyes sparkling.

“You can scent me? Like, how much? What do I smell like to you?” He asked excitedly, and Cas smiled

“When we’re close like this I can. I feel this nice, fresh scent, but I can’t really place it.” Cas felt worried that Dean would be disappointed in how little Cas could scent him, but was surprised when Dean grinned widely, making his eyes crinkle.

“I actually don’t smell as flowery and sweet as most omegas, my scent is like a mixture of bergamot and neroli. It’s amazing that you can pick up on that!” Dean’s excitement was contagious, and Castiel smiled wider.

“Yeah, that is pretty great.” Dean laughed, pushed Cas back down on the couch and started kissing him. Cas closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Dean’s body against his, Dean’s lips sliding against his. Dean sucked on Cas’ lips, before he dipped his tongue between them, and Cas eagerly let him deepen the kiss. Cas put his hands under the hem of Deans’ shirt, and let them travel up over the warm, smooth skin, while biting down on Dean’s plump lower lip. Dean’s breath hitched and he put his hands in Cas’ hair, kissing him even deeper.

There was suddenly a faint, sweet scent in the air, making Cas wonder where it came from, he drew in a deep breath. He could feel the sweet scent a little more this time, and for some reason it made heat course through his body, his want for Dean rapidly escalating. Cas flipped them around, earning a tiny squeek of surprise from Dean, then he moaned as Cas licked a broad stripe up his neck. Cas thought the sweet scent intensified a little, as Dean pushed him back and started to pull off Cas t-shirt.

When Cas was freed from his shirt, Dean pulled his hands over Cas’ chest, marveling at the sight. Castiel caressed the right side of Dean’s face, and Dean turned his head and kissed Cas’ hand, then he froze. Dean sat up abruptly, pushing Cas back and grabbing his left arm, staring at the thin scar running down the wrist.

“Cas… what’s this?” Dean asked, voice shaking, his eyes not leaving the scar. Castiel felt his stomach clench uncomfortably, he always pretended it wasn’t there, hiding it under long sleeves.

“I-It’s, uh, it’s what you think it is…” He said quietly. Dean turned his head and looked at Castiel, his eyes filled with sadness and incredulity.

“When?” The question made Cas look down and draw a shuddering breath.

“When my father told me they were having another baby.” Cas knew he had to elaborate.

“I was eighteen, no one was talking to me, I had no friends left.“

“What about Gabriel?” Dean’s voice sounded pained.

“He wasn’t allowed to see or contact me.”

“Jesus _Christ_ …” Dean breathed.

“I had hope that my parents would change their mind, that they would eventually accept me for what I am, that they just needed time. They were letting me stay at home, even though my mother would pretend I didn’t exist.” He took another shuddering breath, this was painful to talk about. He felt Dean let go of his arm, a warm hand softly grabbed his chin and tilted it up until Dean could lean forward and softly kiss him. He soon pulled away and looked at Cas, silently encouraging him to keep talking.

“You see, according to my parents’ church, it’s greedy and selfish to have more than one child. Them having another baby made it clear, with finality, that they had cast me away as their son.” Castiels eyes burned and his throat closed up at the memory. It took him a moment to be able to talk again. Dean entwined both of his hands with Cas’.

“I had been depressed for a while, but this was the final straw. I couldn’t keep living like that and I saw no other way out, so when my parents went out to celebrate…” Castiel went quiet again. Dean squeezed his hands.

“So, what stopped you?” Dean whispered.

“Gabriel. He came barging in the bathroom, boasting about how he’d managed to run away from our grandma.” Dean let go of Cas’ hands and pulled him into a bone crushing embrace.

“I never thought I would ever feel grateful of Gabe’s proneness to bursting in whenever he feels like it.” Dean’s comment made Castiel let out something in between a laugh and a sob, as he hugged Dean back.

“I mean it, I don’t want to think about never getting the chance to even meet you…I’m so happy that you’re here with me now.” Cas could feel a shiver go through Deans body. They kept holding each other, until Dean eventually let go of Cas and looked at him again. Cas could see Dean’s eyes were red and there were streaks after tears on his cheeks.

“You don’t feel like that anymore though, right?” Cas could see the concern and worry in Dean’s eyes.

“No, I don’t. I promise. Now I have people I care about and who cares about me too.”

Dean kissed him again and then Cas told him how Balthazar had helped him, how they still kept in touch. How Cas would spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together with Balthazar and his mate Meg. They talked for hours and Dean ended up spending one more night at Cas’ place.

 

Castiel woke up to Dean kissing his shoulder, he turned to his side and pulled Dean close, kissing him on the mouth. Dean let out a pleased sigh and dragged his hand over Cas’ naked chest, stopping to thumb over one of Cas’ nipples. Cas drew a breath through his teeth and deepened the kiss, drawing a moan from Dean. Dean’s continued to play with Cas’ pebbled nipple as Cas hand travelled down Dean’s back, until he was able to squeeze one of Dean's butt cheeks. Dean kissed him eagerly and suddenly that sweet scent was in the air again. Cas wondered what it was, when there was a loud rumble from Dean’s stomach. They looked at each other an started laughing. Castiel sat up and pulled Dean with him.

“Come, let’s get you some breakfast.” Cas smiled. 

“Now? Ehm, ok?” Dean smiled back.

They got up and made breakfast together, then Dean spent the rest of the day at Cas’ place, until he had to get home to get ready for his first day at the internship. It took them twenty minutes to say good bye at the door. Castiel sat down at his computer to try and get some work done, and to drown out the feeling that was telling him to go over to Dean’s place. He’d been drawing for three hours when Gabriel got back home.

“Dean isn’t here? Yesterday it seemed like the two of you had become joined at the hip or something.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Cas rolled his eyes.

”So, loverboy eventually had to go home?” Gabriel said and sat down in the armchair.

“Yeah, he’s starting his internship tomorrow.”

“I see.” Gabriel was quiet for a moment, looking contemplative.

“Hey, Cas?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really happy things worked out between the two of you.”

“Yeah, me too.” Cas smiled.

“Dean’s a great guy, you know.”

“I know.”

“And he’s got a great ass, too!” Gabriel grinned and wiggled his eyebrow, making Cas roll his eyes.

“Guess you couldn’t be serious for more than a minute.”

“Oh, I’m very serious when it comes to butts!” Cas just shook his head and continued drawing.

“I’m gonna grab a beer, you want some?” Gabriel said, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

“No, thanks. I’m going to get some blood drawn at Dr. Barnes tomorrow, so I can’t have any.”

“It’s been six months already? Time flies by. Tell me if they’ve made any new progress.”

“Sure, but I doubt it.”

 

Castiel decided to get a caramel macchiato before going to his appointment. He thought about the second time he’d met Dean, and almost felt a little grateful towards those teenage girls. Almost. He looked around and saw a few people giving him strange looks. He sighed and tried not to think about it. When it was Cas turn to order it was one of the regular baristas. She smiled at him, but then she looked confused and subtly scented the air. Cas found it a bit strange, since she was used to him being a null. She seemed a bit puzzled, but continued on with the order as usual.

 After getting his order, Cas got in his car and drove over to Dr. Barnes office. When he went inside, Ms. Rosen, Dr. Barnes assistant, greeted him.

“Hi Castiel! Great seeing you again!”

“Hello, Becky. It’s nice seeing you as well.” Castiel walked up to the desk to get signed in and fill out some papers. Becky’s eyes widened, and her nostrils flared.

“Oh!” She threw her hand over her mouth.

“Sorry, Castiel, that was rude of me! I was just a bit surprised!” She looked embarrassed. Cas was confused, she must meet nulls on a nearly daily basis. She had met him twice a year for about four years now. Before he could ask her what she meant, Dr. Barnes appeared in the doorway.

“Hi Castiel! Please follow me to the examination room, bring the forms with you.” She turned around and Castiel did as told. He was handing the papers over when Dr. Barnes raised her eyebrows and then smiled wide at him.

“Well, seem like someone’s started dating!” She said cheerfully, surprising Cas.

“I…well...yes. How did you know?” Dr. Barnes laughed quietly.

“Well, whoever that boy is, he’s very fond of you. He’s scent marked you, Castiel.” Dr. Barnes winked at him.

“I, uh, I’m not exactly sure what that means? I mean, I know it’s something presented couples do, but… yeah…”

“It’s a natural reaction in omegas, and alphas, when they’re with someone they’re serious about. Usually their partner does the same to them, it marks them as a couple and tells others that they’re “off the market”. Betas usually only do it if they’re dating another subgender than their own.”  She smiled at him again and Castiel blushed. So, Dean had marked him as his? Thinking about it made him feel elated.

“Well, that might explain the strange reactions I’ve been getting today.”

 “I can imagine, I’m used to nulls and can tell that you’ve been scent marked. Others will probably be confused. To them you smell a bit like an omega, but not in the right way. Your lack of subgender scent makes them unable to tell that you’ve been scent marked.”

“So, I smell like an omega with an off scent?”

“Yes, basically. At least to people who’re not close to you. Well, let’s get some blood drawn, shall we?”

 

When Castiel was finished at Dr. Barnes, he sat down in his car and texted Gabriel.

Cas – hey, could you tell Dean scent marked me?

Gabriel’s response was instant.

Gabe – hah, yes, hard to miss!

Cas – I had no idea

Gabe – shit ofc not

Gabe – didn’t think about that

Gabe – you ok with it?

Gabe – it’s a totally normal thing

Gabe – like it be weird if he hadn’t

Cas – yes, very ok

Gabe – cool

Cas -been stared at tho

Gabe – oh.

Gabe – that’s different how?

Cas – smell like weird omega accordin to Dr. B

Gabe – you can never win huh, lol

Cas – haha nope

Castiel hummed happily as he drove home.

 

Dean called Cas as soon as he got home from his internship. He’d had a good first day, nice coworkers and challenging assignments.

“How was your day? Dean asked.

“Good, been working most of the day, I’m almost finished with this book cover, so I think I’ll stay up until it’s finished.”

“That’s great, you think you’ll have time to come over tomorrow, when I’m finished with work? I miss you.” Dean sounded hopeful.

“I miss you too, and yes, I’d love to come over.”

“Awesome! Oh, how did your appointment go by the way?

“Fine, I only had some blood drawn. I did find out something interesting though…” Cas smiled.

“Oh? What?”

“Apparently I’ve been scent marked.” Cas grinned as the line went quiet for a bit.

“O-oh, I-I…uh…sorry, did I overstep? I didn’t think…I should have…of course you wouldn’t know, I’m so dumb, I..uh…” Dean sounded incredibly flustered and his rambling made Cas laugh at how cute it was.

“Calm down, Dean, it’s ok, I like it.”

“…You do?”

“Yes. Very much.” Cas said sincerely.

“Oh thank god, you made we worry, you asshole!” Dean laughed, sounding relieved.

“So, you’ll mark me up some more tomorrow?”

“Definately, can’t have people think you’re up for grabs.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too…”

“See you tomorrow, Dean.

“See you tomorrow.

They hung up and Castiel continued working. Twenty minutes went by and then his phone started ringing again, it was Dr. Barnes. Cas frowned and wondered what it could be about.

“Hello, Dr. Barnes.”

“Hi Castiel! I’m sorry for calling you outside office hours, but I just got the results of your bloodwork back. It shows a low percentage of two hormones you usually lack. I checked the forms you filled out and you’ve stated that you’re not on any kind of medication, is that right?” This was unexpected.

“Yes, I don’t take any form of medication.”

“And you haven’t changed any eating habits or moved apartments or anything else that might be significant?”

“No, nothing.”

“Would you be able to come back tomorrow for some more tests? Maybe the samples got contaminated somehow. And if not, I’d need more blood to do some further testing.”

“Yeah, ok, I can come by in the morning.”

“Great, would nine be ok with you?”

“Yes.”

“See you tomorrow then, Castiel.

“See you tomorrow, Dr. Barnes.”

They hung up, and Castiel sighed. There had probably only been some mix up with his samples. He kept working until he was finished with the cover and sent it over to the client. Then he went to bed and fell asleep right away.


	9. Chapter 9

Castiel was waiting for the results of his latest blood draw to come back. Dr. Barnes had asked him to stay, so that she could do more tests if the sample showed traces of the same hormones again. Cas was sure it was a waste of time, and he was feeling rather restless. Finally, he was called back in again.

“Your sample show the same hormones again, so I need to do some further testing. I will need to draw more blood and get some skin and hair samples. We need to rule out any kind of tumor or other major internal physical change, so I’m referring you to do a CT scan and full physical evaluation at the hospital.”  Cas’ head was spinning.

“Wait, I might be ill?”

“I don’t think so, but we need to rule it out. Especially since there’s been no major change in your everyday life.” Dr. Barnes contemplated for a moment.

“You do have a new partner, but that shouldn’t affect your hormone levels. I have plenty of patients who are married. I don’t think I’ve heard of a null and an omega dating before though. Have you been having intercourse regularly, for how long and do you use any form of protection?“ Castiel was taken off guard by the questions.

“No, uh, we haven’t had sex at all, yet.”

“How about oral or petting?” Well, this was turning awkwardly personal.

“No, nothing, only making out. We’ve known each other for a few months, but we started dating this weekend.” Dr. Barnes looked up from her notes, looking surprised.

“Oh, and he already scent marked you? Interesting…” She scribbled something in her notebook.

“Do you feel aroused when you’re with your partner? It’s ok if you don’t, it’s quite normal for nulls to have a low libido.”

“No, I mean, I feel aroused, yes.”

“Well, let’s get on with the tests, and then you can check in with Becky about what date you will be scheduled for the CT and physical. She’ll also schedule another appointment with me, so we can go over the results.”

 

When Castiel finally got home, he was tired, grumpy and slightly worried. He decided to take the day off and sleep until he was meeting Dean. Unfortunately, his neighbor chose that precise moment to start drilling, and it just went on and on. Castiel gave up on sleep and instead started cleaning the apartment. When he was finished he went into the kitchen to make a casserole that he could bring with him to Dean.

Finally, it was time to go over to Dean’s place. When he got there, they kissed as if they’d been apart for months. Eventually they let go long enough for Cas to show a very happy Dean, that he had brought them dinner. They heated it up and ate it in the shared kitchen. When they got back to Dean’s room, Cas told him all about what Dr’ Barnes had said and all the testing.

“She thinks you might have a brain tumor or something?” Dean asked worriedly.

“No, but she can’t be sure. Those tests are just a precaution.” Cas tried to convince himself as much as Dean.

“But she has no clue what else it could be?” Cas shook his head, ha was not going to tell Dean about all the sex questions.

“When are you getting the CT scan?”

“Thursday, luckily.”

“You want me to come with you?” The suggestion made Cas happy.

“Thank you, Dean. I really appreciate it, but you have your internship.”

“I don’t care, I you want me there, I’ll be there.”

“Again, thank you, but I’ll be fine on my own. I promise I’ll let you know the results as soon as I get them.” Dean reluctantly agreed not to go with him. Dean kissed him and soon they were making out on the bed. Castiel was too tired to let it get too heated, he also knew that Dean needed to get up early the next day. Dean seemed disgruntled when Cas told him they should go to bed, but he seemed to be in a better mood again when he cuddled up close to Cas as they fell asleep. 

They were reluctant to part in the morning, so Castiel drove Dean to work. Since they both would be rather busy the following two days, they agreed that Dean would come over to Cas’ place on Friday and stay for the rest of the weekend. Gabriel talked Cas into letting him come with him to the hospital, since he hadn’t yet started his own internship. Cas spent Wednesday night hanging out with Gadreel and Gabriel.

Thursday came around and none of the tests showed any abnormalities. Castiel was relieved and texted both Dean and Gadreel about the news. Both replied fast and seemed even more relieved than Cas himself.

Friday morning had Cas back at Dr. Barnes’.

“Well, I’m stumped. I can’t find anything but the raised hormone levels in your blood and you’re as healthy as can be. I got in contact with a colleague in Germany whose null patient is married to an omega, but his patient showed no signs of any change in hormone levels.” Castiel perked up when he heard about the other null-omega couple. If things were going that well for them, then maybe he and Dean…

 “I’m sorry I can’t give you any answers right now, not even a theory. I will schedule another blood draw in about a month’s time, and we’ll see if there are any changes.”

Castiel was a little disappointed that there hadn’t been any answers, but very happy that he was healthy. He’d gotten a bit behind on his work, so he sat down at his computer until Dean rang on the door. Again, they were on each other as if they hadn’t seen each other for ages. They made dinner together, cuddled, watched a movie and ended up making out on the couch. Since Cas was tired from the stressful week, he asked Dean to go to bed early again, promising he’d be more fun once he’d gotten some sleep. Dean seemed disappointed at first, but agreed, and they cuddled close in bed.

 

Castiel woke up, feeling like he’d finally gotten a decent night’s sleep. He noticed that Dean was watching him, worrying his bottom lip.

“Hey, are you ok?” Cas asked as he pulled Dean closer and gave him a light kiss.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… can I ask you something, uh, personal?” Dean seemed nervous.

“Yes, of course, what is it?” Cas rubbed Dean’s arm soothingly.

“Are you…do you feel…do you have any interest in…sex? I mean, it’s totally fine if you don’t, I want to be with you anyway, I’ve read that it’s like that for some nulls, but I’d just like to know, so that…I know I guess?” Dean was beet red and the words were spilling out lightning fast. Castiel blinked a few times, dumbfounded, before taking in the question.

“Am I…? Yes, of course I am!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Are you attracted to me then?” Dean was back to biting his lip, face still red.

“What? Of course! I’m very attracted to you!” Cas couldn’t believe that he was being asked this, wasn’t it obvious?

“Ok, cool…It’s just that… every time it feels like we’re getting close to, uh, _something,_ you kind of…pull the plug?”

“I do?” Castiel thought back to the times they spent together this week and…oh. Ok, so he could see how Dean had got that idea.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, Dean! I’m not very good at this, I’m not used to these kind of things…” It was Castiel’s turn to blush.

“I see. Have you ever…?”

“Yes, I had a girlfriend when I was a teenager, and twice with nulls I met online, but other than that…I don’t have much experience. How about you?” Dean’s eyes went wide, and he started to stutter.

“It’s normal to have an active sex life, Dean.” Cas reassured him, and he seemed to relax.

“So, I’ve only been with betas, no alphas or omegas…” That surprised Cas, but then he was used to Gabriel’s rants about how awesome knots were. Dean telling him this made him feel less insufficient.

“Do you have a preference as how to…?” Dean asked.

“I prefer topping.”

“Awesome.” Dean smiled. They looked at each other and started laughing.

“That was awkward.” Dean eventually managed to say.

“Well, it helped waking me up fast.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, we needed to talk about it.” Castiel kissed Dean’s hair.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

They started kissing and soon it was getting heated. Castiel grabbed the hem of Dean’s t-shirt and pulled it over his head. Cas then proceeded to kiss his way down Dean’s chin and neck, stopping to nip at the junction of his neck and shoulder. Dean gasped, and Cas continued down to Dean’s nipple. He sucked at it, before gently pulling it between his teeth, making Dean moan. There it was again, that sweet smell. Cas let go of Dean’s nipple and lifted his head to scent the air. Dean made a frustrated noise.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s this kind of sweet scent, can you feel it? I’ve smelled it a few times before when we’ve been together.” Dean giggled and looked abashed.

“Cas, that’s probably my slick that you’re scenting…”

“Your…oh. Oh!” Cas gave Dean a wolfish grin and ducked back down to lap and tease at Dean’s nipples. Dean keened and bucked his hips, making their erections brush against each other. Cas sat back long enough to pull off his own t-shirt, then he lay down again, pressing their chests together, loving the feeling of skin against skin. The sweet scent intensified a little and Cas felt lust spike through his body. He gripped Dean and flipped them over so that Dean was laying on top.

Dean pressed openmouthed kisses under Cas’ ear, before sucking Cas earlobe into his mouth, making Castiel shiver. Dean then plunged his tongue into Cas mouth, as he simultaneously started to slowly grind their crotches together. Castiel moaned loudly and gripped Dean’s ass with both hands, kneading the cheeks together.

Cas could feel the fabric of Dean’s boxers starting to get soaked, and his dick twitched in anticipation. He slipped a hand under the waistband and between Dean’s cheeks, groaning when he felt the amount of slick there. Cas used a finger to circulate the puckered hole, before slowly pushing the tip inside. Dean inhaled sharply and bucked his hips back, making all of Cas’ finger push inside.

“More, Cas, please!” Dean panted, and Cas pulled out his finger to slowly push two inside instead. He soon started to plunge them in and out and kept doing it until Dean ordered him to add more fingers. Soon Dean was a quivering, panting mess.

“I-I need more, Cas.”

“Ok, uh, shit, condoms. I can probably get some from Gabe’s room.”

“No, don’t leave!” Dean whined, nuzzling Cas’ neck.

“I’m clean, and on birth control. You?” He panted.

 “Y-yeah, I’m clean.”

“Then get this underwear off, now!” Dean nearly growled, making Cas dick get impossibly harder.

Cas pulled out his fingers, making Dean mewl and shudder, then he made Dean lay down on his back as Cas pulled his boxers off. Dean pulled his legs up, making Cas stop and look hungrily at Dean’s beautiful, leaking cock and ass.

“Come on, Cas, take yours off too!” Dean whined impatiently.

Cas didn’t need to be told twice, he sat back and hurriedly pulled off his own underwear, sighing with relief when his cock sprung free. He looked over at Dean again and saw him staring, mouth agape.

“Fuck, you’re big!”

“I am?”

“Yes! How can you not know that? That thing is far from average! Now come on, put it to good use!”

“How do you want to…”

“Like this, please, hurry!”

Cas crawled on top of Dean, kissing him as he started to push inside. There was a little bit of resistance, so Cas slowed down, but Dean made a frustrated groan and wrapped his legs around Cas’ hips, making him push inside faster. Cas’ breath hitched as the tight wetness became almost overwhelming.

“Dean, you feel so good…”

He bottomed out and started doing slow, shallow thrusts, before picking up pace and pulling out further. Dean was moaning and panting loudly, and he started playing with his own nipples, his dick bouncing against his belly and smearing precum.  The sight made Cas’ mouth water and he changed his position a little, so he could thrust harder and faster.

Dean suddenly let out a shout and gripped the sheets hard with his hands.

“Yes! Cas! Right there, don’t stop!”

Cas kept slamming into Dean at the same angle, drawing delicious sounds from him. Dean was starting to clench down around him, and Cas knew he was close. Cas kissed and licked at Dean’s neck, then he suddenly bit down hard, but not enough to break the skin, and Dean came shouting Cas name, his release painting both of their stomachs.

Castiel could feel himself getting close, the familiar heat building up.

“Dean, I’m close, where do you want me to…”

“Inside, I want to feel you cum inside!”

Cas’ hips started stuttering and he mashed their lips together as came hard, still inside of Dean. He managed to catch himself on his arms, so as not to crush Dean under him.  Cas waited for his heart rate to calm down, before carefully sliding out of Dean. Dean made a face and Cas lay down on his side, pulling Dean into his arms.

“Believe that I’m attracted to you now?” Cas joked, making Dean snort a laugh.

“Yes, you’ve convinced me.”


	10. Chapter 10

They had stayed in bed, not caring about the messy sheets, cuddling and talking for an hour, then they had sex again. When they were finished, Dean was resting his head on Cas’ chest, dozing off. Castiel was sliding his fingers absentmindedly up and down Dean’s back. He was thinking about how lucky he was to have met Dean, and how important the other man had become to him.

 Cas thought he should be feeling terrified of how important having Dean in his life had become, and how strong his feelings for Dean were. But, it was as if all fear and rationality had disappeared. All Cas could feel was a happiness and content, he’d never thought was possible for him to ever experience. He watched Dean sleep for a while, then he started to doze off himself.

He woke up to Dean gently kissing him.

“Hi, what time is it?” Cas asked and rubbed his hands over his face.

“It’s 1.35pm, we should take a shower and get something to eat.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I should change the sheets too.”

“If you want to, but it’s not necessary. I like them smelling of us.” Dean gave Cas a cheeky smile.

“Well, I guess we’re just going to mess the new ones up as well…”

“Yup!” Dean grinned and looked around the bed.

“You know, you should get some more pillows, and blankets.”

“Oh, right, you like pillows. I guess I could get some more.” Dean looked down, abashed smile on his lips.

“Uhm, it’s more like a…nesting thing.” Nesting? Cas thought back to the first time he visited Dean’s place.

“Wait, so, the pillows were all new that time I met the girls for the first time?” Dean nodded, looking sheepish.

“Because of me?” Cas asked, incredulous. Dean nodded again.

“You’re kind of thickheaded, you know.” Dean smiled, and Cas pushed him down on the bed, planting kisses all over his face.

They eventually made their way over to the bathroom, Dean insisting they shower together, although it’d be a tight fit. They kissed, laughed and helped clean each other up.

Dean’s hands sliding all over his body, had Cas hard and aching again. Dean pushed Cas back against the shower wall and dropped down to his knees. Castiel groaned when Dean started gently sucking on the tip of his dick, teasing the slit with his tongue.

“Fuck, Dean…” Cas breathed.

Encouraged, Dean grabbed the base of Cas’ length and swallowed down as much as possible, bobbing his up and down, while stroking his head in time. Cas head fell back, and he moaned loudly, putting a hand in Dean’s hair. He could scent Dean’s slick again and it made his hips do an involuntary jerk. Dean made a choked sound and used his free hand to hold Cas back against the wall. The heat was building up, and Cas started to gently pull Dean’s head back, only to get his hand slapped away.

“Dean, I-I’m about t-to come…” He managed to pant out.

Dean made a happy little sound and doubled his efforts, then Cas was coming down his throat. Dean kept sucking and licking him through it, until Cas started pushing his head away again, and this time Dean let him. In the closed space, the scent of Dean’s slick was overwhelming. Cas turned off the shower and Dean looked up at him, panting heavily, unspoken question in his eyes.

“Dean, get out of the shower and present to me.” The depth and firmness of his voice surprised Cas, Dean let out a high pitched whine and did as told. Cas watched him as he got down on all four on the bathroom floor, lifting his hips up and presenting his ass to Cas.  Cas stepped out of the shower, sinking down to his knees behind Dean. He used his hands to spread Dean’s cheeks apart, and marveled at Dean’s leaking, twitching, pink hole. He flattened his tongue and licked up the sweet slick trickling down, making Dean whine again.

Cas made his tongue pointed and pushed his tongue inside of Dean with little effort, since Dean was still loose from earlier. Cas pushed his tongue as far inside as he could, swirling it around and licking up as much slick as possible. Dean mewled and started to subtly rock back on Cas’ tongue. Cas fisted Dean’s cock and started stroking it hard and fast, loving how a fresh gush of slick leaked out of Dean before Cas was able to swallow it down, resulting in it covering his chin and slowly making its’ way down his neck.

There was a strangled shout from Dean and Cas felt Dean’s warm cum coat his hand, before Dean collapsed on the floor. Cas sat down on his haunches, breathing as if he’d run a marathon. He leaned forward and gently stroked the back of dean’s thigh.

“Hey, you ok?”

“Yesthatwasamazing…” A jumbled mumble came. Dean eventually turned his head and squinted back at Cas.

“We need another shower…” Castiel laughed at the grumpy tone of Dean’s voice and helped him get up and back into the shower.

 

They had managed to get dressed, order pizza, and were now sitting on the couch watching a movie. Dean had first grumbled about it being a chick-flick, but now he seemed to be pretty into it. He was leaning back against Cas’ chest and pointing out what he thought was romantic, and what he thought was dumb.

“Oh, of course she’s going into heat when she has that super important presentation that she can’t miss. What kind of omega forgets to keep track of their heat? And ever heard of suppressants?” Dean rolled his eyes. Castiel smiled fondly at his boyfriend’s irritated voice. Dean was quiet for a beat.

“Cas?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you always go over to Gadreel’s place when Gabe’s in heat?”

“I do when he has alphas over. But there have been times when he’s dealt with it on his own. Then I’ve stayed home to make sure he eats and drinks properly, has clean clothes to change into, that kind of stuff.”

“That’s nice. Charlie usually checks in on me, since she’s an omega too.”

“She is? I had no idea, guess it’s never come up. What is Jo?”

“I always forget you can’t tell. Jo’s an alpha.”

“I see.”

They continued watching the movie for a bit.

“So, uh, my heat should be coming up in about two weeks…”

“It is?”

“Yes. I was wondering…if you’d like to spend it with me?”

“You want me to…are you sure?”

“Yes, I really want you to.”

“Then yes, I’d love to.” Castiel felt as if something deep down, inside of him, was howling in victory. Dean turned around, so they were chest to chest instead, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Great! It’s usually very punctual, but last time it came almost two weeks early, so I can’t swear it’s two weeks left. It probably is though.”

“That’s ok, I don’t have any major work deadlines coming up for a while.” Dean’s smile widened.

“Awesome!” Then he looked uncertain.

“I probably should tell you that last time was rougher than usual, and it went on for four and a half days. Our family doctor said it was probably a fluke due to stress.”

“I’ll be with you whenever it comes and however long it takes, ok?” Cas said reassuringly. Dean started kissing him, and soon they were heading back to the bedroom, movie completely forgotten.

 

They were in the middle of having breakfast Sunday morning. Cas had been feeling hot and sweaty all morning.

“Isn’t it really warm in here, maybe the AC is broken?”

“No, it feels the same as always. Maybe you’re getting sick?” Dean put his hand on Cas forehead.

“You don’t feel warm enough to be having a fever.”

“Strange, it feels really warm.”

“Do you feel ill in any way?” Castiel thought about it, but he felt fine.”

“No, just hot.”

“Oh, you’re very hot.” Dean winked, Cas snorted.

Dean’s cellphone started ringing.

“Sorry, I have to take it, it’s work.”

Cas downed another large glass of water as Dean walked into the living room to talk to his boss. He was starting to feel a little light headed, maybe he was coming down with something? He filled up another glass of water and wiped at his sweaty brow, when Dean came back into the kitchen, a sour look on his face.

“One of our main servers is down, and I need to go in to work to help and try fix it.” Castiel’s mood fell, he didn’t want Dean to leave. He had to bite himself in the cheek, to not say it out loud. Of course, Dean needed to go to work.

“That sucks. I can drive you.” Cas pushed himself off the counter and was struck with sudden dizziness, making him stumble. He grabbed the kitchen table and waited for the dizziness to fade.

“Cas, what happened?” Dean came up to him, looking worried.

“I felt dizzy all of a sudden, I’m fine now though.” Cas straightened up.

“Ok, so you’re definitely sick, you’re not driving me anywhere.” Dean crossed his arms over his chest and Cas could tell he wouldn’t budge.

“Fine, I’ll stay here and rest. But you’ll borrow my car.” Castiel grabbed his car keys and handed them to Dean.

“Thanks, Cas.” Dean gave him a brief kiss.

“Call me if you need anything, I can come by after we get this problem sorted at work.”

“I will, thank you.”

Castiel followed Dean to the door, they kissed and hugged, both reluctant to separate, but eventually Dean had to hurry to work. Castiel had to try hard not to throw open the door and pull Dean back inside. His whole body ached, longing for Dean.

“I really must be getting sick…” Cas muttered to himself, This was not a normal reaction, he’d see Dean soon again, if not today then probably tomorrow evening.

He went inside his bedroom to rest, thinking he should change his sheets first, but getting inside he felt calmed down by the faint scent of Dean, so he decided to let it be. He laid down and fell asleep almost immediately.

 

“Hey, Cas! Can you hear me? Wake up!”

Castiel slowly opened his eyes, annoyed at whoever was shaking him. His body felt as if it was burning up, and he was aching all over. When his eyes finally focused he saw Gadreel’s worried face staring down at him.

“Gad, what is it?” He felt confused, what time was it, why was Gadreel looking at him like that, and why was he so god damn thirsty?

“Oh thank god, you’re awake!”

“Who could sleep through you manhandling them like that.” Cas muttered gruffly, before starting to close his eyes again, but then being pulled up to a sitting position by Gadreel. Cas’ head exploded with a searing headache, he put his face in his hands and moaned.

“You, apparently! It took me almost five minutes to wake you, I nearly called an ambulance!” What? That was weird.

“You’re burning up, Cas, I’m getting the thermometer, don’t you dare fall asleep again!” Gadreel hurried out of Cas’ room and Cas had barely managed to get his legs over the edge of the bed, before his friend was back, showing the thermometer in his mouth. Gadreel scrunched up his nose and Castiel raised his eyebrow questioningly.

“Sorry, it’s just, you reek of this really… I don’t now how to describe it, it’s a scent that’s feels all wrong. What is going on here?” The worried look was back on Gadreel’s face. The thermometer beeped, and Gadreel pulled it out of Cas’ mouth before he had time to do it himself.

“105?! Fuck, Cas! How are you feeling?”

“Tired, it’s incredibly warm in here, my body hurts, my head is killing me and I’m thirsty.” Gadreel rushed out of the room and came back with a glass of water, that Cas slowly downed, his throat aching.

“What time is it?”

“9pm.”

“What? I’ve been asleep all day?”

“Seem like it.”

“How come you’re here?

“Dean called me when he couldn’t get in touch with you or Gabriel, telling me you hadn’t been feeling well this morning. He’s still at work by the way.”  When he heard Dean’s name, Cas whole body stiffened, and a bone deep need for Dean coursed through him, making him feel nauseous.

“Dean…” Cas breathed and tried to fight the water coming back up again.

“Cas, I think we should get you to the hospital. You look like shit and the fever is really bad. This smell… I’m worried.”

“Ok…” Was all Cas managed to get out. He could feel something was wrong, very wrong.

“Come on, I’ll help you stand up.”

Castiel took Gadreel’s hand and stood up. The world started spinning like crazy, he threw up and then everything went black.


	11. Chapter 11

Everything was a blur, Cas could hear people talking, but he couldn’t make out the words. He thought he heard Gabriel’s , and even Dr. Barnes’, voices at times, but most were unfamiliar to him. His body hurt and he was so very nauseous. There was a sting in his arm and all the voices and the pain faded away.

 

When Cas started to wake up again, he felt someone holding his hand. His left arm was itching and there was something annoying on his face. He blinked his eyes open and used his right hand to try and get the thing on his face off. Someone let go of his left hand and stopped his right hand from pulling off the plastic thing from his face.

“Hey, hey, hey, Cassie! Keep the oxygen mask on, it’s helping with the nausea, ok?”

Castiel managed to focus on Gabriel’s tired face. He stopped trying to pull off the mask and looked around the room. He realized that he was in a hospital bed, and there was an intravenous drip attached to his left arm.

“Gabe…” He managed, throat feeling impossibly dry.

“Yeah, hi Cassie. You’re at the hospital. You fainted and freaked out Gadreel quite bad. Me too.”

“What time is it?” Cas asked, and Gabriel looked down at his watch.

“It’s 3.16pm, Monday afternoon.

“Monda...?” Cas started coughing.

“I’m gonna give you some water. I’ll have to move the mask and when I do, I advice you to hold your breath, ok?” Castiel nodded and did as told when Gabe pushed the mask to the side and put a straw to his lips. Cas happily took a few sips, before Gabriel put the mask back in position.

“Thanks…”

“No problem, kiddo. How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted, my body is kind of aching. What happened?”

“Well… It would seem that you’ve started presenting. Since you’re such a late bloomer, your body is kind of struggling with it, not being used to all the hormones and what not.”  

“I’m…presenting?” Castiel couldn’t believe what Gabriel was telling him.

“Yes. Your new sense of smell was overwhelming you, and you kept throwing up all over the place. That’s the reason why you’re wearing the mask, it keeps all the scents out.”

“I’m…what am I?” Was this really happening? It felt unreal.

“I don’t know, so far your scent is really strange, kind of bad actually. Don’t worry! Dr. Barnes thinks you’ll smell normal when you’ve finished presenting.” Gabriel reassured him.

There was a knock on the door before Cas could ask anything else. Dr. Barnes came in and shone up when she saw that Castiel was awake. She asked Gabriel to leave while she had a talk with Cas, he did and promised he was nearby if Cas needed him. She asked Cas how he was feeling, and he gave her the same answer he’d given Gabriel.

“I assume your cousin has told you that you’re in the process of presenting?”

“Yes, how is that possible?”

“I can’t be sure yet, but your latest tests, taken last night and today, show a low level of a hormone only found in true mates.” Dr. Barnes was quiet to let the news sink in.

“True mates? Dean and I?” Was he dreaming? Was this an elaborate joke? Thinking of Dean, made the deep longing surface again.     

“It is possible, yes. Mr. Winchester is coming over straight after work today, to let me run some tests and see if his blood contains the same hormone. Unfortunately, I can’t let you two be in the same room, until your presentation is finalized.” Dr. Barnes was interrupted by a low growl from Cas, she smiled crookedly.

“I’m sorry, Castiel, but we don’t want to risk his scent and pheromones making your hormones go haywire again. Your temperature reached almost 109F last night, that’s dangerous. Also, we don’t know how Dean’s body will react to you being in a half presented state.” That made Castiel stop growling. He didn’t want Dean to get hurt.

“Do you have any idea what I’m presenting as?”

“Your tests are inconclusive, your hormone levels keep changing. That said, my guess is that you’ll present alpha.”

“Why?”

“Well, becoming a beta wouldn’t be that much of a change physically, I doubt you’d be this sick if that was the case. Your genitals are much too large for an omega, and you have displayed some rather alpha-like aggression.” Dr. Barnes gave him an amused look.

“Concerning the true mates part, the most common pairing is alpha-omega.” Dr. Barnes took out her notebook and scribbled something in it.

“Now, Castiel, I know you understand what an amazing breakthrough this is for the Null research. I hope you’ll let me continue to follow your process closely?”

“Of course.”

“This means I’ll to put you through a lot of testing and questioning.”

“Whatever you need to do, it’s ok with me.” Dr. Barnes gave Castiel a wide, excited smile, before schooling her features again. Castiel knew how much this meant for the research going forward, and he could only imagine how thrilled Dr. Barnes must be.

“First, I need to ask you some questions about this weekend, to see if we can figure out what triggered the presentation.” Castiel blushed.

“Uh…well…we didn’t really do anything different, we were hanging out at my place. We did, however, have sex for the first time…”

“That could be a trigger, yes. What forms of sexual activity did you partake in?”

“Penetration, oral and petting…” Castiel tried not to blush too hard.

“Mhm… Who performed what action on who?” Castiel cringed, could he just pass out again, please?

“I, uh, penetrated Dean, fingers and, you know… We both performed oral on each other, and I uh, ate…him…out…” Dr. Barnes looked up from her notes, tapping the pen against her chin.

“How many times did you have intercourse?”

“During the whole weekend? Uhm… penetrative sex was…five times. Only oral, two times…”

“Could you tell me the approximate time from the first time you were intimate to the last time?

“Saturday morning, maybe…around 10? Then around 8am Sunday, I think.

“Did you use any protection?

“We’re both clean and Dean’s on birth control so…no.”

“I see…”

She asked some more questions about what else they had been doing, what they had been eating, if they had partaken in any nesting behavior, and when he’s started feeling sick. She eventually put her notebook away and looked at Castiel.

“I will let you rest now, the nurse will notify me if anything changes.” Dr. Barnes left, and it didn’t take long before Cas was asleep again.

 

When he woke up, Gabriel was back by his side.

“Hello there, sleeping beauty.”

“What time is it now? Please don’t tell me it’s Tuesday.”

“Don’t worry, Cassie, it’s still Monday and it’s…6.42pm.”

“Great…Did you see Dean?”

“Yeah, I talked to him when he was here to see Dr. Barnes. He’s very worried about you, it took a lot to talk him into going back home, and not stay in the waiting room like last night.”

“He did?” Cas felt his heart clench.

“Yup, he was a wreck. Don’t worry though, he seemed better now that he knows you’re not in any danger.” Cas closed his eyes and swallowed thickly, he wanted Dean there so much it hurt. He wondered if Dean felt the same.

“Do you think you can try and eat something? The room has been sanitized, so mine and the foods’ scent should be the only ones in her,e if you take off the mask.” Cas saw a sandwich on the table next to the bed.

“Yeah, I could try.” He got the mask off, and then drew in a slow, hesitant breath. Gabriel’s scent hit him first, it was sweet, a mixture of chocolate and honeyscotch. It wasn’t unpleasant, it smelled like related family, and something about it made him feel at ease.. Cas could also smell the sandwich to a point where he could tell what spread it had, without looking.

Cas took another breath and there was something else there, his nose twitched and he took one more, deeper breath. There was a faint, fresh, citrusy scent in the room, it made Cas’ shoulders relax and fill his chest with warmth. It seemed to be coming from… Gabriel’s sweater?

Cas needed more of that heavenly scent, he grabbed Gabe’s arm and pulled him close enough so that he could sniff out where the source was. It got stronger around the shoulder area, and Cas made a triumphant sound when he found the right spot. Cas buried his nose in the right place on the sweater. This close he could smell the ravishing scent of bergamot and neroli better, the scent of home and mate. Cas sighed happily and rubbed his face against the spot.

“Yeah, this is not at all weird, Cassie…” Gabriel remarked, but didn’t move.

“Dean…mate…” Cas purred.

“What? Oh, fuck, how are you even able to scent that? He touched my shoulder for like three seconds, two hours ago.”

There was suddenly a sharp pain in Cas’ gut, he doubled over, gasping for air.

“Cas, what’s happening?”

Another burning stab of pain went through his gut and spread out through his genitals, making Cas shout. Gabriel put on the mask again and pushed the alarm, two nurses and Dr. Barnes came running inside the room. The pain kept coming and Cas couldn’t get a word out, Gabriel tried to explain what had happened.

Dr. Barnes told Gabriel to get out, and the nurses to hold Cas down, while she started pressing her hands down, from this stomach to his groin, making Cas scream out in pain when she got to the lower parts. He was hurting too much to feel embarrassed when she pulled up his hospital gown and started poking around his genitals.

She hummed and ordered a nurse to get something.

“Castiel, try to relax, nurse Milligan is getting you something for the pain. Mr. Winchester’s scent seem to have triggered the change in you genitals that will make it possible to form a knot. Your testicles and ejaculatory duct will also change to accommodate the substantial production of alpha semen. The whole change is probably this painful because your body already went through puberty.”

The nurse came back with a syringe and handed it over to Dr. Barnes who proceeded to inject it into Cas’ groin. Within a few minutes the pain subsided enough to not be excruciating anymore, and he could form words again.

“Fuck, that was bad! How long will this change last?”

“I’m sorry to say I don’t know Castiel. You’re the first known null to present in about 40 years. Your presentation is nothing like that of a teenager who’s still going through puberty. We’ll make sure to put analgesic in your intravenous drip to help with the pain.”

In the end, it took approximately seven hours of constant pain, and Castiel was not happy.

After that, the worst part of the transition seemed to be over though. His fever had gone down the next morning and he was able to eat some soup. Gabe told him he was starting to smell better, if still kind of bad, and that it was now possible to tell that Cas was an alpha. Cas started scent training by taking off his mask short periods of time, smelling 2-3 scents at the same time. He’d just finished his lunch soup, when Dr. Barnes came into his room.

“It’s great to see you so much better already, Castiel. I’m here to talk to you about both Dean’s and your latest test results.”

Cas sat to rapt attention, nervous and excited at the same time.

“Your hormones are stabilizing, and it is now easy to tell that you’re an alpha. Your scent starting to clear up is probably a result of that.” Cas tried not to show his impatience, he already knew he was an alpha.

“Dean’s test show the same amount of the true mate hormone, and yours haven’t decreased. This means the two of you really are true mates.” Castiel felt lightheaded at the confirmation. Dean and he were meant for each other?

“This is not only a breakthrough for the null research, but also for the true mate one. It’s been believed that true mates are a perfect scent match, but the fact taht the two of you started to bond before you presented, indicate that there’s more to it. You’ve turned out to be quite a special case, Castiel.” She winked at him.

 “This…I…when can I see Dean again?”

“When we can confirm that you’ve fully presented, there shouldn’t be a problem for the two of you to meet again. You will probably react to each others’ scents like any other true mates that get to scent each other for the first time, though.“

“Ok…?” Castiel frowned and Dr. Barnes looked amused.

“Let’s just say that you should meet somewhere private, just the two of you…”

“Oh…”

They went over some more medical aspects and some more tests were done. Castiel realised he could talk to Dean on the phone, but when he went into an unexpected alpha rage when told it might not be a good idea, he was not even allowed to text him, in case it would somehow be a negative trigger.. Castiel felt ashamed, even if he couldn’t help what happened, his hormones still unbalanced.

The next day his scent had finally stabilized itself, and Gabriel told Cas he smelled very pleasantly of cedar and fig leaves. They drew blood every second hour, and every time it showed his hormone levels at a normal rate for an alpha in his twenties. The presentation was completed.

The scent training was going well, and Dr. Barnes decided that he should stay another night and then be discharged. She recommended that he stay at home the first week, and go outside for short walks every day, to get used to the scents of everyday life.

It was the end of visiting hours and Gabriel was soon about to go home.

“Will you tell Dean to meet me at home when he gets off work tomorrow?”

“I’ll do you one better, his work has already given him a week off, and he’ll be at home when you get there tomorrow.”

“They gave him time off? But he just started the internship?”

“Well, turned out his company actually has a policy to give their employees a week off if they meet their true mate, since it’s so rare. Apparently, their founder had a true mate. I think Dean would have been there anyway when you got discharged, internship be damned. He’s been very antsy. He stayed in your room last night, and will do so tonight as well, since he couldn’t get any sleep at home.”

“Dean…” Castiel’s chest constricted, there was only one night left, but it felt like an eternity.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been very busy and tired due to work, so it took me a little bit longer to finish this chapter.  
> Unfortunately, the next chapter might take some time too.  
> Hopefully I'll be able to finish it before Monday, but I can't promise.
> 
> Thank you for being patient! <3

There were so many scents everywhere, telling his brain what felt like a million things at the same time. Cas sighed with relief when he was finally sitting down in Gabriel’s car. Was he ever going to get used to it?

“You ok there, Cassie?” Gabriel asked as the started the car.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I really want to get home to Dean.”

“He really wants you home too, he’s going a bit crazy.”

“I need him…” Castiel whined.

“God, you’re pathetic… Not that he’s much better, you should see your room. I hope you both snap out of it a little when you complete your bond.” Gabriel rolled his eyes affectionately.

“What about my room?”

“You’ll, see….”

They were quiet for a bit, and all Cas could think about was how much he wanted to see and to touch Dean. To talk to him, scent him, mate him…Castiel snapped out of his musings when he registered that they were going the wrong way.

“Gabe, this is not the way home, what are you doing?” Cas nearly growled.

“Relax, we’re just picking up Gadreel.”

“Why?” Cas couldn’t see the reasoning behind this course of action.

“Because, he’s a big, strong, burly alpha. You have just presented, and it was not under normal circumstances. You have been acting a bit erratic, and you’re not used being able to smell mating scents and pheromones. We don’t know how you’ll react to scenting Dean, _your true mate_ , directly for the first time, I want to make sure your alpha brain won’t jump him before he can consent correctly.”

“Gadreel is to hold me down.” Castiel stated, abit offended, he would never hurt Dean.

“Yes, if need be. Just as a precaution We also want to see how you react to another alpha, being in close proximity to your mate. I’m planning on staying at Kali’s this week, and I don’t want to hear about you assaulting one of our alpha neighbors, just because they happened to be in the hallway at the same time as Dean.”

“Alphas attack people for going near their mate?” Castiel’s eyes were wide, he didn’t want his new subgender to make him violent.

“Only heard about it when they’ve been in rut, and it’s not very common then either. What I’m saying is, alphas can act a bit cray, cray when their hormones are going wild, and you’re about to properly scent your true mate for the first time.”

“I can’t wait, it’ll be amazing, I found Dean wonderful before all this and…”

“Aaand, you’re back to pathetic.”

 

Gadreel was already waiting outside for them, Gabriel parked the car and made Castiel get out.

“Cas! You have no idea how great it is to see you! You scared the shit out of me!”

Gadreel was immediately by Cas side, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. Castiel tensed up slightly when he got the full impact of Gadreel’s scent, since his nose was accidently buried in Gad’s neck. It was the scent of iron and the ocean, “alpha” his brain provided. Cas was surprised that he could tell that Gadreel was relived and happy to see him.

“You smell nice, Cas!” Gadreel grinned at him as he released him from the hug.

“Thanks, you too. Now get in the car, I want to see Dean!” Castiel turned around and hurried back in the car, annoyed when his two friends started laughing at him.

 

As soon as they walked into the building, Castiel could faintly scent Dean, and Gadreel had to grab his arm to keep Cas from bolting up the stairs. Gadreel looked and smelled amused when Cas growled at him. They were finally stepping out of the elevator and Dean’s scent got stronger. Castiel’s heart started pounding, and he had to get inside to his mate, right this moment or he’d die! Castiel started making tiny, distressed noises.

“Stop whining, Cassie, we are literally steps away from our door.” Gabriel sighed as he opened the door and they went inside.

Castiel felt as if he was hit by a large wave made of bergamot and neroli. He closed his eyes in delight, and when he opened them again, Dean was standing at the end of the hallway. His green eyes were shining, his cheeks were flushed, and his mouth was slightly open. Cas absentmindedly took a step forward, and then he was stopped by Gadreels hand on his arm.

“Easy, Cas…” Gadreel’s voice was soft.

Castiel growled again, and then he was nearly knocked down as Dean threw himself at him. Dean’s scent engulfed him, telling him, with a barrage of emotions, that this was meant to be, this was home and family. This was, without a doubt, _his_ mate. Castiel started shaking and he wrapped his arms around Dean, who had his nose buried in Cas’ neck, breathing in deeply over and over again.

“Mine…” Dean purred happily, rubbing his nose over Cas’ scent gland.

“Yours.” Castiel whispered, voice raw with emotion.

Dean looked up at Cas, grabbed his neck and pulled Cas’ face down to his own scent gland. Castiel gasped as Deans’ scent became almost overwhelming, in the best way possible. Before he new what he was doing, he’d licked a broad stripe from the gland and up Dean’s neck. Dean shuddered and let out a small moan.

“Ok, I think that’s our que to leave. Come on Gadreel, I’ll drive you to work!” Gabriel’s chipper voice felt like it was coming from far away and Cas was only slightly aware that the door closed and locked behind them, he was too busy kissing Dean’s jaw.

Cas made his way down to Dean’s scent gland again and started licking and sucking on it, Dean’s skin tasted so good, so perfect. The air was suddenly thick with a heavy, tantalizing scent of sweet lemon and honey, and Cas felt something inside of him roar. He pushed Dean up against the wall and kissed him, almost desperately. Their bodies were pressed against each other and Cas could feel Dean’s erection against his own. Cas’ left hand wandered down inside the back of Dean’s jeans, and he purred with pleasure when he felt how wet with slick Dean already was. He stroked his fingers through it and pulled out his hand. He pulled away from the kiss, making his mate whine and look at his lips yearningly. Castiel brought his slick covered fingers to his mouth and started licking them, moaning at the sweet taste. Dean gasped loudly and jerked his hips against Cas’.

“Fuck, Cas…” Dean’s pupils were blown, and he’d started panting.

Cas licked his fingers clean, reveling in the mind blowing taste and scent of his mate. He felt high and drunk at the same time, mind foggy but at the same time crystal clear. Every touch from Dean left his skin tingling. Cas scented Dean’s neck again, and started slowly grinding against him.

“Cas…mate…our n…bedroom…” Dean managed to get out, and Cas grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door.

Cas practically slammed the door open, then stopped and stared. His bed was covered in pillows, blankets and different articles of clothing stuffed in here and there. He saw a couple of his own shirts, and a pair of Dean’s jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt.

That thing inside of him was pleased and elated, his mate was incredible.

Dean slipped his arms around Cas from behind, kissing and scenting his neck. A new wave of slick reached Cas’ nostrils and then, before he could register what was happening, they were pulling their clothes off each other. When they were finally naked, Dean squawked as Castiel suddenly hoisted him up into his arms, and carried Dean over to the bed, bridal style.

Castiel carefully layed Dean down in the middle of the bed, subconsciously astonished by how easy it was. Cas crawled over the small wall of pillows and clothing, and sat down between Dean’s legs. Cas saw streaks of slick on the inside of Dean’s thighs, leaned in and licked at it. Fresh slick trickled out of Dean, and the scent was intoxicating.

Castiel pulled Dean’s legs over his shoulders, and buried his tongue in Dean’s wet hole. Dean rattled off a string of curse words, grabbing Cas’ hair and pushing him closer. Castiel sucked and licked, only taking short brakes to nip at Dean’s thighs.

Castiel’s cock was throbbing in a way he’d never felt before, his lust for Dean was flowing like electric currents through his body. He tried sliding a finger in beside his tongue, and loved the choked sound Dean made. He slid in another finger, Dean’s hand tugged at his hair, and there was a deep moan.

More slick gushed out, and Cas almost flipped Dean over to fuck into him hard and fast. Only a fear of hurting his beautiful mate stopped him. He pulled away his face from Dean’s leaking hole, but added another finger and continued to push in and out of Dean. He let Dean’s legs drop down from his shoulders and move up his body to catch Dean’s lower lip between his teeth. He flicked his tongue over the bite, soothingly, and Dean grabbed Cas’ face with both hands and plunged his tongue down Cas throat.

Dean grabbed Cas’ cock and started stroking it, making Cas groan into his mouth.

“D-Dean…I need to be inside you…”

“Yes…please…”

Cas pulled out his fingers and coated his cock with the slick from them.  He used his hand to guide the tip to Dean’s entrance, then he pushed inside easily. He thrusted into Dean a few times, and growled as he wanted, _needed_ , more. Cas pushed Dean’s legs up against his chest, making it easier for Castiel to thrust deeper and harder. Dean threw an arm around, and pulled Cas down so he could scent him again. Wrecked gasps and groans escaped Deans’ lips, and Cas picked up his speed, practically slamming into his mate. Dean threw his head back, eyes hazy with lust, and Cas started licking and sucking at his exposed neck.

“Fuck, yes, Cas! Please, please, yes! Mate me!”

Dean begging Cas to mate him, had that inner voice roaring in triumph. Castiel felt a new, deeper lust course threw his body, it was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. There was a strange, but very pleasant, pressure building at the base of his cock. Cas pulled back from Dean’s neck, causing Dean to let out a displeased little snarl, and looked down at his dick.

Cas stopped mowing for a few seconds, and stared down at some sort of lump at the base. Then Dean smacked his arm and Cas met his mate’s irritated face.

“Are you just gonna stare at your knot, or put it in me?”

Oh, right. He was an alpha now, this was normal. Cas hurriedly started thrusting again, and kissed Dean deeply as a way of apology. He slid his hand down between them and started stroking Dean’s cock. Dean moaned loudly, closed his eyes and exposed his neck to Cas again. His knot started catching on Dean’s rim, and Cas felt an unfamiliar, forceful, arousal taking over his senses, spurred on by Dean’s shaky breaths and whimpering . His knot pushed inside, and instinct made Castiel bite down hard over Dean’s scent gland.

When his teeth broke the skin and he tasted blood, his orgasm came crashing down, making him loose his breath. Then he felt the bond make a connection, and the intensity of it made him let go of Dean’s neck and throw his head back, with a gasp. Dean soared forward and then his teeth sank down into Cas neck, and it was as if his mind exploded when the bond locked down, completed. Another orgasm ripped through him, filling Dean with, what felt to Cas as, an impossible amount of cum.

Dean had fallen back down on the bed, a dazed expression on his face, eyes glazed over. Cas slowly slid down, laying on top of Dean, realizing then that Dean had cum too, by the sticky mess that he could feel between Dean’s stomach and his own chest.

Cas managed to crawl up Dean’s body, and started to lick the mating bite clean. Dean shuddered and carded a hand through Cas’ hair.  

“Mine…” Dean said softly.

“Yes, yours.” Cas mumbled against the bitemark.

Dean pulled at his hair, Cas raised his head and met Dean’s lips in a gentle, loving kiss.

“Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“Can we try and move a little? You’re kind of crushing me…” Dean smiled crookedly.

Castiel kissed him again, and then they carefully moved to their sides. They cuddled close, constantly kissing and touching each other, but not talking. Their silence was reverential, taking in all the new emotions from their bonding.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry to have kept you waiting for the next chapter!  
> First I was getting very busy with work, then my laptop broke...  
> I've finally had the time to get a new one, and I'll try to write as much as possible this following week.  
> I hope to have the next chapter up at the end of this weekend.
> 
> Thank you so much for your patience! <3

Castiel was staring into Deans emerald eyes, a huge smile plastered on his face. Dean was his mate! This gorgeous, kindhearted, smart, funny, caring, amazing person was his, how was that even possible? Dean smiled back at Cas and kissed him again, then he put his nose in the crook of Cas’ neck, inhaling deeply.

“So, it was cedar…” Dean mumbled.

“What was?” Castiel carded a hand through Dean’s har and kissed the top of his head.

“Your woodsy scent, it was cedar. I’ve always loved the smell of cedar. I wonder if it’s because some part of me knew it’d be my mate’s scent.” Dean sighed and kissed Cas’ jaw.

“Maybe? Come to think of it, I’ve always enjoyed citrusy smells.” Cas said, and Dean looked up at him with a huge grin on his face.

“Dude, this is insane! We’re true mates!” Deans eyes sparkled, and he pulled Castiel closer into the embrace.

“I know, it feels unreal… Your scent is the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt, and it keeps telling me you’re my mate, my home… I had no idea how many things scents can tell you, like, right now I know you’re very happy, just from your scent. It’s all so…strange and fascinating.” Cas gently caressed Dean’s face with one hand, and Dean put his hand on top of Cas’.

“That’s normal to me, but thinking about it, yeah, it is kind of really cool.” Dean moved his legs a little, and the movement made him tug at Cas’ knot, sending a spike of pleasure through Cas’ body. A tiny moan slipped out of Cas, and Dean smirked at him.

“This is…interesting as well…how long do we stay like this? It must have been almost thirty minutes already, right?” Castiel had no clue about how knots worked, it had never seemed like a necessary thing to learn.

“Well, I’ve never been knotted before, but, if I remember high school biology correctly, your knot should be going down soon. They’re supposed to last for 20-40 minutes.” Dean smiled at him.

“Did it, uh, did it hurt?” Cas asked, worriedly.

“Nah, it felt good.” Dean smiled and bit his lip.

“Is it uncomfortable now? Being stuck like this?”

“No… Actually feels nice, being filled up…” Dean blushed.

Castiel smiled and they continued to kiss and cuddle until a few minutes later, when Cas’ knot finally went down, and he slipped out of Dean. Dean made a face at the cum and slick trickling out.

“That’s messy, we should have a towel ready next time.” Dean grimaced.

“I don’t know, part of me likes it very much, makes the nest smell right.” Cas mumbled, before he knew what he was saying. Dean looked at him strangely, and then started laughing.

“Dude, your inner alpha is one kinky son of a bitch!” Dean continued to laugh, a fond look in his eyes.

“That’s what it is? My alpha instinct?” Castiel was genuinely surprised, it made sense though.

“Yeah, you’ll get used to it.” Dean said and kissed him again.

After a few more kisses, Castiel got up and got them some wet cloths to clean up with, then he lied down again and pulled Dean close, his back to Cas’ chest.

“The nest is nice...” Cas’ comment made Dean’s face turn a deep shade of red.

“I guess I went a bit crazy when you were in the hospital and I wasn’t allowed to see you… It felt comforting, sleeping in your bed, but I felt like it was missing something. So, I got all the pillows and blankets from my place. Then it still felt like it was missing something, so I got a couple of your shirts… I’m, uhm, not sure when I added the rest of the things…” Dean hid his face in a pillow. Cas pulled him closer and kissed the mating mark.

“I love it.”

“Really?” Dean peeked out from the pillow.

“Yes, you’re such a perfect omega...” Castiel’s voice had dropped a few octaves.

Dean turned around and crashed their lips together, Cas could feel the sweet scent of honey in the air again. It wasn’t long until they were knotted together again.

 

 

On the third day of their mating, they finally got outside of the apartment for the first time. Castiel felt nervous, but he knew he needed to get used to all the new scents of the world. They went for a walk around the neighborhood, which was about as much as Cas could take before he started to get a headache from being bombarded by all the new smells. They met an old couple on the way home, who smiled sweetly at them.

“Did you see that couple smiling at us?” Cas asked Dean.

“Yeah, they could probably see and scent that we’re new mates.”

“Is that something people usually do?”

“I guess? I mean, they probably think it’s sweet, seeing a newly mated couple and scenting how happy they are.” Dean smiled at him.

“That’s nice.” Castiel smiled back.

“People smiling at you?”

“Yeah, usually people look away, or they stare and whisper.” Castiel said, matter of factly. He suddenly scented sadness coming from Dean, so he stopped walking and gave Dean a worried look.

“What’s wrong, Dean?”

“It’s just… I hate how people have treated you, it’s not right.” Anger started to mix with the sadness. Castiel pulled his mate into an embrace.

“No, it’s not. Luckily, I’ve had people like you in my life.” Castiel nuzzled Deans’ neck and kissed the mating mark. He felt Dean relax and the sadness and anger started to fade from his scent.

“I’m lucky to have met you…” Dean mumbled, and Cas kissed him.

They started walking again and were soon back at the apartment, they went inside and Dean let out a low whistle.

“Wow, it reeks in here.”

“What do you mean? It smells wonderful, it smells of us.” Castiel replied, grumpily. Dean laughed.

“Relax, I like it too, but I’m pretty sure Gabe won’t appreciate it when he gets back. We need to crack open some windows.”

“I don’t want the scent to go away…” Castiel said petulantly.

“We’ll only weather out the living room and kitchen, we can leave our bedroom as it is.” Dean shook his head, looking amused. Cas brightened up, knowing the bedroom would remain the way it was.

“We will, however, change the sheets.” Dean said, making Castiel whine.

“Oh, come on, they’re getting real crusty!” Dean jokingly pushed at his shoulder.

“I don’t mind…”

“But they’re starting to feel scratchy, it’s uncomfortable.” Dean pouted. That made Cas’ alpha stand to attention, his mate needed their nest to be more comfortable!

“Where are you going?” Dean asked as Castiel hurried off.

“I need to get some fresh sheets and change the bed.”

Dean laughed as he opened the living room window.

 

Two days later, the mating haze had finally started to wear off a little. Castiel had just finished talking to the last of his clients, explaining why he’d been absent and that he’d have to push up the deadline for a couple of projects. To his surprise, all of his clients had been very understanding, and they had congratulated him on his mating.

Dean had talked to his bosses to keep them updated, then he’d called his family and was currently on the phone with his mother. Cas decided to give Gabe a call, he’d sent a few texts to both him and Gadreel over the last few days, but maybe it was time for a more detailed update. He sat down on the couch and dialed Gabriel’s number.

“Cassie! How’s mated life treating you?”

“It’s amazing.” Cas smiled.

“Ooh, I bet it is…” Cas could almost hear the suggestive eyebrow wiggle through the phone and rolled his eyes.

“Are you ok with staying at Kali’s for a few more days?”

“Oh yes, her rut is about to start, so no complaints here.”

“Uhm, ok, great, uh…”

“Have you and Dean discussed living arrangements, now that you’re mated?” The question caught Cas off guard, the mating pheromones had made him completely forget that Dean didn’t actually live there.

“No, uh, we, uh, probably should though.”

“No stress, Cas. We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, you’re right. There’s a lot going on.”

“Hah, yeah, mildly put. By the way, I talked to Balthazar, he and Meg are very happy and excited for you. You better give them a call when you have the time.”

“Yeah, I will.” They both were quiet for a moment.

“Anything else, Cas?” Castiel swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Yeah…uh…do you think… do you think I’ll be allowed to see Claire now?” Cas’ voice came out as barely a whisper. The thought had been there since he’d first been told he was presenting. He could hear Gabriel take a deep breath.

“I hope so, I mean, I think so. They shouldn’t have a problem with it now. I, uh, I actually told my mom that you’ve presented…”

“You did? How did she react?” Cas sat up straight and he could feel his hands starting to shake. Suddenly Dean was wrapping his arms around him from behind, putting his chin on Cas’ shoulder. Castiel relaxed into the comforting scent of his mate.

“She seemed pretty shocked. Told me she would talk to dad about telling your parents. Haven’t heard back from her yet, but it’s only been two days.”

“Call me as soon as you hear back from her?”

“Of course, Cas.” Gabe said softly.

“Thank you… for everything.”

“No need for thanks, Cas.”

They were quiet for a moment again, then Gabe spoke again.

“Cas… if they…if your parents want back in your life again…will you let them?” Cas closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I…I don’t think I can. What they did… It will only be for Claire.”

“Good. They don’t deserve you.” There was venom in Gabriel’s voice, and Cas couldn’t help but smile at his cousins’ protectiveness.

“But, just to be clear, if you’d want to…”

“I don’t think so…”

“Well, if one day you do want to, I’ll support you either way, you know?” 

“I know.” Castiel could feel his eyes prickling with tears.

“I’ll call you if I hear anything, if not, I’ll call when it’s time for me to come back home.”

“Ok, talk to you later.”

“Yeah, tell Dean-o I said hi.”

They hung up and Dean moved around so that he was straddling Cas’ lap, then he pulled Cas’ face down to his scent gland. Castiel inhaled deeply, letting Dean’s comforting scent wash over him. Dean started to card his hand through Cas’ hair.

“What did Gabe say about Claire?”

“He’s told his mom about us, he’ll call me when he hears back from her. He thinks my parents might let me see her now.” Cas wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist.

“I really hope they do, you two deserve to get to know each other.”

Cas nodded, but kept his face in the crook of Dean’s neck.

“How do you feel about the possibility of seeing your parents again?” Dean asked, hesitantly.

“I…don’t know. My father and I was never all that close. He’s the “kids should be seen and not heard”-kind of person, he was strict and expected me to have good grades. My mother…” Cas’ swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath.

“My mother and I would do a lot of things together. Like, we both loved to play boardgames, so Friday was game night, even when I was a teenager. I would go to her if I had a problem, and she’d help me figure it out. She always told me how much…how much she loved me.” Cas’ voice broke and he had to take a moment before he could continue. Dean rubbed Cas’ back soothingly.

“My father not wanting me when I was confirmed to be a null, it hurt, but I could handle that. My mother… I don’t understand, you know? I just don’t understand how she could love me one day, and then the next…I was nothing to her, nothing at all.” Tears were running down Cas’ cheeks, but he barely noticed. He could smell sadness in Dean’s scent again.

“Cas…” Dean’s voice sounded hoarse.

“It broke me. I can’t forgive her, but at the same time I miss her. I miss what we had. But, I can’t let her back in my life again. I had to work so hard to piece myself back together after what they did to me.” Castiel felt Dean’s hand on the side of his face, and he raised his head to meet his mate’s tear-filled eyes.

“We’ll find a way for you to see Claire, without having to deal too much with your parents. I’ll be with you when you need to see them, and I’ll make sure to keep them off your back, as much as possible. I’ll be there for you in any way you need me to before, after, and during any meetings with them.”  

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas smiled at his wonderful mate, who proceeded to kiss him softly, before pulling Cas up from the couch and into the bedroom.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Finished a little early!
> 
> I'm grateful that people are still interested in reading this story, even though it took me so long to update!  
> Thank you! <3

An alarm was sounding, and Cas growled, as he wanted to continue sleeping. He heard and felt Dean sitting up and turning the alarm off. Cas groaned and wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist.

“I don’t want you to leave the bed…” Cas sighed and nuzzled Dean’s hip.

“Me neither… but I have to get up and go to work, our week’s up.” Dean sounded as displeased as Cas felt. 

“It should be a month, not a week…” Cas hugged Dean closer, and Dean huffed a laugh.

“Can’t say I disagree. Unfortunately, it’s not, and I have to get ready. That means you need to let go of me.” Dean said fondly, and Cas reluctantly loosened his grip on his mate.

“They should at least have given you today and tomorrow off as well, it’s almost the weekend…”

“Yeah, well, if my heat wasn’t about to hit this Tuesday or Wednesday, they probably would have. Now, I need to shower, or the guys will make fun of me for smelling like.” Dean winked and stood up, Cas appreciated the view of his naked mate walking towards the bathroom.

Cas turned on his back and stared at the ceiling. He needed to do some (well a lot actually) work himself. He decided to make some breakfast while Dean was showering, so that they could eat together before Dean had to leave.

Cas was just setting the plates on the table, when Dean came into the kitchen, fully dressed to Cas’ great disappointment.

“Stop pouting, I don’t have time for any funny business, so I had to get dressed.” Dean kissed Cas’ cheek, sat down at the table and took a bite of the pancakes, moaning loudly.

They finished their breakfast and then they kissed at the door, until Dean checked his phone and hissed that he was about to be late and ran out the door (after kissing Cas one last time). Castiel sat down at his computer and started his own workday. He was relieved to realize that while he missed Dean, it wasn’t the same overwhelming longing it had been at the hospital, before they mated. He got into a nice workflow and was surprised when his stomach started growling and it was 2.45pm.

He made and ate a sandwich, then he continued working until Dean got back from work in the evening. Dean was barely through the door, before Castiel was at his side, pulling him the rest of the way inside, and crashing their lips together. They didn’t make it to Cas’ room, but instead ended up with Cas knotting Dean on the living room couch.

Friday went by pretty much the same as the day before, the difference being Gabriel walking through the door as Cas was greeting Dean welcome back by pushing him up against the wall.

“Well, hello there, Cassie! Dean! Am I interrupting something?” Gabe smirked at them. They both blushed and took a step away from each other, hands linked together.

“Gabriel, you didn’t say you were coming back home today…” Cas said, slight blush on his cheeks.

“Nah, thought it’d be fun to surprise you two.” He winked at them as he made his way inside the apartment.

“I see the window is open and the place doesn’t smell like a brothel, I appreciate that. Still, wow! This place definitely smells like it’s been marinated in your scents.”

“Sorry…” Cas started but was immediately interrupted by his cousin.

“Cas, if you think I’m anything but happy for you, you’re an idiot. I know you haven’t been able to scent it before, but this is nothing compared to what it’s like after one of my heats.” Gabriel grinned and patted Cas’ back as he walked over to the living room.

“Speaking of heats, will Dean be moving in with us?” Gabriel smiled and sat down on the couch.

“Yes, well, kind of.” Castiel started.

“I will stay here a lot of the time, but I’ll keep my room for when I need to really focus on studying. At least for the time being, we’ll see how it goes.” Dean continued.

“Great! Welcome to the family, Dean-o! Guess we’ll need to make a heat-schedule, to make things run smoothly around here.”

“Well, about that… you think Kali would mind housing you for another few days next week?” Dean scratched his neck, and Gabriel stared at them for a minute, before laughing.

“Are you serious?”

 

 When Gabriel had stopped laughing and assured the new mates they could have the apartment to themselves during Dean’s upcoming heat, they invited Gad, Jo and Charlie over to celebrate the mating.

It was strange for Castiel to be able to read his friends moods through their scents. At the same time, it was great to finally understand and pick up on subtleties he had never been able to before, it made socializing a lot easier he realized.

They all made fun of Cas and Dean for taking so long getting together, considering they were true mates. Cas found it easy to laugh at, now that it felt so obvious that they belonged together.

When they finally decided to call it a night, Jo and Charlie decided to take a cab back to Jo’s place. Gadreel had already fallen asleep on the couch, so Cas just threw a blanket over him, before heading to bed with Dean.

 

The next day, Cas, Dean and Gadreel went to Cas’ favorite café for a late breakfast. Gabriel had still been sleeping, Kali’s rut and the late night party taking its’ toll on him. Castiel was about to order, when he realized the barista was staring at him with a look of utter confusion on her face.

“Is everything ok?” Cas asked.

“I’m not sure? I think there’s something wrong with my nose. I could swear you were a null, then you came by smelling like some weird kind of omega? Now, you’re very obviously alpha? You think it could be a tumor?” Cas could scent genuine worry coming from the barista and decided to calm her down, even if the subject felt rather private to him.

“Oh, no, there’s nothing wrong with you, I promise. I was a null, the omega scent came from my now mate, then I, uh, actually presented.” Cas felt awkward, and he could tell both Gad and Dean tensely waiting for the barista’s reaction. First her face scrunched up in confusion, then she was suddenly smiling brightly at him.

“Oh my gosh! I had no idea nulls could present, that’s so cool! And, oh! Congratulations on the mating, you two look really cute together!” She kept smiled brightly at them and Cas started stuttering a thank you.

“Alicia, what’s taking you so long? There’s a line.” Another barista came up to the first one.

“Sorry, Krissy! This guy here is one of our regulars, and he’s just been mated!” The other girl looked at Cas and Dean and started smiling as well.

“Oh, it’s you! Congratulations! What can we get for you today?”

They ordered, got their food and sat down at a table. Castiel was in a great mood, the baristas had been very nice. He wondered if maybe him being a null had never bothered at least those two. When they were nearly finished, the girl named Alicia came by their table with three plates of pie.

“How about some cherry pie for the newly mated couple and their friend? It’s on the house.” She smiled and put down the plates on the table.

“Pie? This is _so_ my new favorite place! You guy’s rock!” Dean exclaimed before stuffing a large bite in his mouth. Cas and Gadreel thanked her, and Alicia winked at them before hurrying off to help another customer.

Dean ended up eating both his own pie and half of Cas’. They left a hefty tip for the girls before leaving. Gadreel decided to go back home, since he was going on a date with Anna later that day. Since the weather was nice, they went for a long walk. It was getting easier dealing with the magnitude of scents. Cas had started to be able to tune out scents that weren’t people or animals.

They ended up walking for long enough that it became lunch time, so they decided to stop at a diner and eat. Cas enjoyed being outside this much, and not being stared at once. Some people had looked, but since most of them were smiling, Cas guessed it was because he and Dean were obviously newly mated. When they had finished eating, they mad their way back home.

When Castiel opened the door, he was immediately alarmed, there was something off in Gabe’s scent. He growled under his breath, and told Dean to stay put, then he hurriedly followed Gabe’s scent into the kitchen.

As Castiel entered, he saw Gabriel sitting on a kitchen chair, a dark haired, female alpha standing in front of him. Gabriel was covering his face with his hands, strong scents of sadness, upset and distress coming from him. The female alpha looked and smelled angry, and something else that Cas didn’t have time to make out before his vision turned red, a loud growl of protectiveness ripped from his throat, and he lounged towards the alpha.

He managed to grab her by the neck, before she seemed to know what was going on, and he threw her across the kitchen, to get her away from his family. The other alpha hit the wall and fell to the floor, Cas was about to jump her, when Gabriel grabbed his arm.

“Castiel! Stop! Kali isn’t hurting me!” Gabriel sounded scared, but Castiel’s mind was overcome with a red fog of rage, all his instincts telling him someone was trying to hurt his family. He shook Gabe’s arm off and started towards the other alpha, when Dean appeared in the doorway. Castiel snarled as his mate was now close to the danger as well. He took another step towards the intruder, but then he suddenly had his arms full of his mate. Dean clung to him as he started to push Castiel back and away from the other alpha.

“Cas! Listen to me, Gabriel isn’t in danger, his girlfriend hasn’t done anything wrong!” Dean’s voice was stern. Castiel was confused, he looked over to the other alpha, who kept her head down in submission.

“Please, Cassie, listen to us! You need to relax, Kali isn’t a threat!” Gabriel pleaded. Cas’ regular, rational self, realized that there wasn’t a threat anymore, but the rage he felt didn’t calm down, his instincts was still protecting his family from an intruder. So, he took another step towards the alpha, starting to push Dean to the side.

Dean jumped in front of Cas again, kicking Cas’ legs from out under him, while pushing Cas in the chest. Castiel fell backwards and slammed into the floor, then Dean was on top of him, pushing Cas head into the crook of his neck and scent gland, Cas was suddenly surrounded by his mate’s scent.

“Come on, Cas, snap out of it, I know you can do it.” Dean’s voice was calm and so was his scent. Cas closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. After a few deep breaths, the red started to disappear from his vision, and he managed to relax. Dean rubbed his nose against Cas’ hair, telling him he was doing good, and that everything was ok.

Soon, all the rage was gone, and Cas could think clearly again. He stiffened, dread filling his gut, and grabbed Dean’s arms.

“Shit! What did I do! Is Kali ok?” Castiel started to sit up, and Dean moved to the side to make it easier. He looked over at where Kali was sitting, leaning against the wall, Gabriel by her side, stroking her hair.

“I’m ok, just got the wind punched out of me.” She smiled crookedly at Cas.

Cas got to his feet and walked over to Kali, extending his hand to her to help her get up. She grabbed it and stood up.

“I am so sorry! I’m terribly ashamed of my behavior, I hope you can forgive me.” Castiel felt terrible.

“Don’t worry, Castiel. I’m an alpha, this was nothing. I admit this wasn’t how I imagined meeting you for the first time, though.” Kali said, good naturedly, as she also shook Dean’s hand.

“Me neither…” Gabriel said as he came to stand by Kali’s side.

“I’m so sorry, Gabe, I promise I didn’t mean to…” Cas began.

“It’s ok, Cas, you haven’t gotten used to your alpha instincts, and don’t have full control over them yet.” Gabe gave him a small smile.

 “We’re lucky that your mate was with you. I’m rather impressed by how fast he calmed you down from your alpha rage.” Kali said and gave Dean an appreciative look. Castiel took Dean’s hand in his, and Dean started to rub his thumb over Cas’.”

“The power of true mates.” Gabriel joked.

“What was going on though? Your scent even had me worried.” Dean asked. Gabriel looked at Cas, and then at the floor. He started fidgeting, looking like he didn’t know how to start.

“I came over because Gabriel forgot his phone at my place. It had been ringing several times, so I figured it might be something important…” Kali said and looked at Gabriel.

“It was my mom. Kali was angry and worried because my mom made me upset.” Gabriel bit his lip and Cas felt his stomach drop. Dean took a firmer grip on Cas’ hand.

“And, what did she say to upset you?” Castiel asked, dreading what the answer could be. Gabriel looked up and met Castiel’s gaze, sadness and anger thick in his scent.

“Your parents still won’t let you see Claire.”


	15. Chapter 15

“What do you mean they won’t let me see her? Like, not right now, but eventually? I mean, I understand that they have to explain a few things to her, but then I can see her, right?” Castiel practically pleaded with Gabriel.

“I’m so sorry Cas, but no. They don’t want you to meet her, ever.” Gabriel had a painful look on his face and started to reach for Castiel, but he took a step away. 

“No… No, that can’t be true. I presented! I’m even an alpha, just like father always wanted!” Cas’ voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

“I know, I know, I don’t get it either! Mom said that your parents were disagreeing about letting you back in the family, so they consulted their priest. Apparently, that fucker convinced them that it doesn’t matter if nulls present later in life, they’re still to be shunned. What they did to anger God in the first place is a great sin, and that nulls should live a modest life in solitude to try and make up for it, blah, blah, blah! It’s all complete, fucking bullshit!” Gabriel pulled at his hair, anger and frustration coming off him in waves.

“But that doesn’t even make sense! I have a true mate! The church has always preached how only God’s most beloved are rewarded with a true mate!” Castiel pointed to Dean, who staring incredulously at Gabriel. Kali was standing to the side, chocked look on her face.

“That’s what I told mom! I told them they were huge, fucking hypocrites! She refused to believe me about the true mate-thing, saying nulls could never achieve that and that what you have is a false bond. She just wouldn’t listen to reason!”  

“Which one disagreed?” Castiel gave Gabe a determined look.

“What?” Gabe looked confused.

“Before they talked to the priest, which one of my parents thought it’d be ok for me to come back?”

“Aunt Hester, why?” The answer surprised Castiel, but he didn’t linger on it. He let go of Dean’s hand and pulled out his phone, then he dialed a number he hadn’t used in over seven years. Three signals got through before someone answered.

“Novak’s residence.” Castiel wasn’t prepared for the pain that shot through his chest, from hearing his mother’s voice for the first time in years.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” His mother asked, and Castiel cleared his throat.

“Mother… it’s me.” He could hear a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line, other than that, it remained quiet.

“Listen… I’m an alpha now, I have a true mate. Doctors can show you proof that it’s a true bond. You know what it means to have a true mate…”

“Castiel…” Her voice was barely a whisper, but she had said his name, she had acknowledged him for the first time since Cas was seventeen!

“Please, mother! I just want a chance to get to know my sister.” Cas’ voice was shaking. He heard his mother take a shuddering breath.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are, or what you’re talking about. Please don’t call again!” Her voice sounded strained.

“No, wait, mother!” Castiel tried, but she had already hung up.

Castiel dropped his phone to the floor, then Dean pulled him into an embrace, and he allowed himself to cry.

 

When Castiel had calmed down, all four of them sat down in the living room. Dean and Gabe tried coming up with ideas of how to get Cas and Claire together, in spite of his parents’ wishes. Kali, who was a lawyer shut down several of their ideas. Castiel only listened to the other’s, feeling numb.

“No, it’s not a good idea to just show up at their house. They could easily get a restraining order, and that is something Castiel absolutely must avoid, if he wants to be able to see Claire before she turns eighteen. When she’s old enough to make decisions on her own and is allowed to leave the house on her own, it would be possible for you to meet up with her, without her parents knowing. You’ll have to be careful about it, so they don’t find out. Again, restraining orders are easy to attain in their state when it comes to theses kind of issues.” Kali looked at Cas with sympathy.

“This is crazy unfair! Cassie shouldn’t have to wait at all! I’ll drive up there and give my asshole aunt and uncle a piece of my mind!” Gabriel spit out, as he punched the armrest of the couch.

“No, please don’t.” Castiel finally spoke up.

“Why the hell not? I can’t just shut up about this stuff!”

“It won’t change their mind. But, it might make them ban you from visiting and seeing Claire, too. Claire loves you, and she needs you in her life as the only decent person.” Castiel rubbed a hand over his face.

“Cas…” Gabriel looked like he wanted to protest but thought better of it.

“Also, we need to think of what's best for Claire, she's only six after all. Besides, you’re my only way of communication with her.” Castiel gave Gabe a dejected smile.

“Your arguments makes sense… so we’re back to our original plan then?” Gabriel asked sadly.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” Cas nodded.

 

They talked for a while longer, then Castiel and Dean decided to spend the rest of the evening together in their room. Dean made him talk about his feelings concerning talking to his mother again after so long. Castiel kept being astounded about how his mate managed to get him to open up things he’d thought was too painful to even think about, and that it somehow made things feel less awful. Kali stayed over in Gabe’s room, to be there for and comfort him. Castiel decided that he liked the female alpha, and how much she seemed to care about his cousin. 

Sunday started with all four of them hanging out and Cas getting to know Kali better. At a first look, the calm, dignified and serious alpha seemed like an odd match for someone goofy and hot tempered like Gabriel. But then it seemed perfect how they somehow completed each other.

Gabriel decided to go back with Kali to her place, so that Cas and Dean could prepare for Dean’s upcoming heat. They went to the grocery store and stocked up on food and drinks and things that could come in handy during the heat-days.

Then Cas had to work on some of his projects, Dean sat in the armchair close by, and read in some kind of programming book. Castiel loved the domesticity of the situation.

Cas could tell it was close to Dean’s heat, since Dean had started to smell a bit sweeter the last two days. Also, his mate would take every chance he had to touch him, nuzzle his neck, hug him and scent mark him. Castiel made sure to scent mark Dean thoroughly in the early morning, before Dean went to work. Cas wanted to make sure that everyone that met Dean during the day would know that he had an alpha, and wasn’t up for grabs, even if he smelled enticingly fertile. Cas knew it was kind of silly, considering anyone could tell that Dean was mated, but he figured it was the alpha in him. Also, Dean seemed more than happy about the attention from his mate and smelling of Cas all day.

 

Castiel had been working hard all day, when he suddenly started craving some chicken tikka. He looked at he time and decided he could call it a day. He calculated that he should be able to go get some dinner for him and Dean at the Indian place a couple of blocks away, and be back right before Dean got home.

Castiel was halfway to the restaurant when his phone started ringint and he saw Dean’s name on the display.

“Hello, Dean.” Cas heard a low whine on the other end of the line.

“Casss…” Dean’s voice was breathy.

“Dean, is everything ok?” Cas asked, worriedly.

“Yes…no…yes? I…ahh… I’m in heat…” Another whine slipped out, and Cas shuddered pleasantly at the neediness he could hear in it.

“Are you at work? I’ll come get you.” Castiel had turned around and hurried towards his car.

“Noo… I’m in my dorm room… I went over here to get some of my comfy clothes… then it just hit me, out of nowhere…unnh…please hurryyy…” Dean was panting, heavily, and Cas could feel his dick twitch with interest.

“I’m getting in the car right now, I’ll be there as soon as I can, ok?”

“Yes…good…I need you here…”

Castiel drove as fast as he could, staying on the phone with Dean, who didn’t want to hang up, saying Cas’ voice was soothing. Castiel parked outside Dean’s dorm, making it there in record time.

“I’m here, can you make it down on your own?”

“N-no, I… please Cas…” Dean hissed, and Cas ran inside the building and up the stairs towards Dean’s room. He didn’t have his key on him, so he had to knock on the door.

When Dean opened, he had to lean on the door frame and he was dressed in only his boxers. His face and chest were flushed red, he was sweating, and his eyes were looking feverish. Cas was about to say something when the smell hit him. It was like nothing he’d ever scented before, tit was pure ambrosia, and it was coming from Dean.

The next thing Castiel knew, he had pushed Dean inside and up against the wall. A possessive growl ripped from his chest and he was licking a broad stripe up Dean’s neck. Fuck, he tasted just as good as he smelled! Dean keened and trembled under Cas’ touch.

“More, alpha! God, you smell fucking amazing!” Cas’ breath hitched at the “alpha” and Dean’s scent becoming heavier. Suddenly his vision turned red, pure lust pulsating through his body. His mate was fertile and wanted him, he needed to fuck, breed and take! Castiel roared and used both his hands to rip apart Dean’s underwear, then he lifted Dean up and practically threw him on the bed. Dean made a startled noise as he landed on his back, then Castiel was flipping him over to his stomach and pushing his legs up so that he was presenting. The words mate, fuck and breed kept spinning in Cas head and he was about to undo his belt when he froze.

What was he doing, manhandling Dean this way? Dean’s heat wasn’t about him and his needs. The red was back, the red that made him loose control. He couldn’t loose control with Dean, his beautiful mate!

Cas took a step back, shaking his head violently, trying to clear his mind.

“Cas… what are you doing?” Dean looked back at him, and Cas felt that pull of fuckbreedmate start up again. He clenched his fists, willing the fog in his brain away. It didn’t work, the red was still there, and it started to frighten him. He took another step back. Dean looked confused and raised himself up on his elbows.

“What…Why are you backing away?” Dean seemed confused.

“I-I’m sorry, Dean…I…I need to get out of here!” Castiel turned around and bolted out of the room, slamming the door shut, and ran down the stairs, he didn’t stop until he was outside and next to his car. He leaned against the roof of the car and tried to calm his beating heart and heavy panting. The red, the overwhelming lust, it was still there. The pull to go back inside and fuck his mate was strong, but Cas fought it, he couldn’t risk hurting Dean.

His phone started ringing and he picked up, knowing it’d be Dean.

“Dean…”

“Why did you leave? What the fuck, Cas!” Dean sounded upset.

“I’m sorry I…had to.”

“What do you mean? You…you don’t w-want to be with me?” Dean’s voice was shaking.

“No! Yes! I mean, of course I do!” Fuck, it was hard to think straight.

“Then why would you leave? Why would you leave me when I’m in heat?!” Castiel winced at the hurt in Dean’s voice.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… Everything went red, I can’t control myself, I don’t want to hurt you!” Dean was quiet for a moment.

“Wait… your eyes turned red and your scent… Cas, I think you’re in rut.”

“What?”

“You’re in rut, we’re mates, my heat must have triggered it. Cas, this won’t go away, come back inside!” Dean pleaded.

“I’m rutting? No, Dean, I can’t risk hurting you!”

“You won’t hurt me, please Cas, I need you to be here!” Castiel shook his head, but realized that Dean couldn’t see him.

“No…”

“Cas, you promised you’d be there for me, you know how bad my last heat was. This one is going to be worse if you, my mate, isn’t with me, you know this.” Cas could hear that Dean was on the verge of crying, and his alpha was snarling at him for upsetting his mate.

“Please Cas, you won’t hurt me. You not being here is what’s hurting me.” With that, Castiel’s resolve broke, he was hurting his mate! He needed to fix this, now!

“I’m coming back up.” Cas didn’t hear Dean’s reply, before ending the call.

The door was still unlocked and Castiel took a deep breath before walking inside. Dean was still laying on the bed, but he sat up as Castiel entered, and threw one of the pillows at Cas, hitting him square in the face.

“You fucking asshole!” Castiel looked at his mate’s tear streaked face, and felt ashamed, his inner voice calling him a lousy alpha. He sat down on the bed and pulled Dean into his lap.

“I’m sorry, I promise to make it up to you.” Castiel started kissing Dean’s jaw, making his way down Dean’s neck.

“You better.” Dean growled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for the hanky panky times! ;P


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The heat is on ;)

“Take off your clothes, I want to feel your skin!” Dean demanded and pushed himself off Cas’ lap.

Cas hurried to obey and was soon as naked as his beautiful mate. Dean stared at him hungrily, and Cas could scent the sweetness of Dean’s slick filling the air around them. His mind went hazy and he had suddenly flipped Dean over on to his stomach again. Cas was laying on top of him, pressing Dean down as he was sliding his cock in the slick between Dean’s ass cheeks.

Castiel gasped and pulled away, he’d lost control again! Shame washed over him, he was such a failure of an alpha.

“What’re you doing, why’d you pull away?” Dean had turned his head to look at Cas, his face flushed, and he was panting heavily.

“I-I…didn’t mean to…are you ok? I don’t mean to push you around like that, it just…happens.” 

“Cas, I’m in heat, I don’t care about romance, I need you to fuck me!”

“But what if I do something bad? The way I lost control on Saturday, with Kali…”

“That was different, that was a bad situation. This is good, and it’s ok to lose control. I _want_ you to follow your instinct!”

Cas was just about to argue, when Dean’s face twisted with pain and he hissed as he curled in on himself.

“Please Cas, I need you…” Dean managed to grit out between clenched teeth.

Seeing his mate in pain got Cas going again, letting his inner alpha take control. He licked at Dean’s neck and mating mark, while he easily pushed two fingers inside of Dean’s slick filled hole. Dean moaned loudly and relaxed under his mate’s ministrations. Cas felt a gush of slick sliding down his hand and forearm, and the scent mixed wonderfully with a strong wave of Dean’s heat scent.

The matebreedfuck-mantra started spinning in Cas’ head again, and this time he didn’t resist it. Cas positioned himself behind Dean and pushed his legs up a little for better access. Then Cas lined the head of his cock up with Dean’s entrance and pushed inside with one smooth slide.

Dean gasped and mumbled something that sounded like “fuckinfinally”.  Cas gripped Dean’s hips and pulled almost all the way out, and then slammed back in, making Dean cry out and bury his fingers in the sheets. Castiel set a punishing pace, fucking hard into his mate. His mate’s whimpering and moans were like music to Cas’ ears, then Dean suddenly shuddered with a small cry, and Castiel realized that Dean had cum.

Castiel grinned and moved one of his hands to start stroking Dean’s half hard dick until it was fully erect again. He could feel his knot starting to catch on Dean’s rim, and he looked down to see Dean’s thighs glistening with slick, his hole stretching wide and leaking around Cas’ knot. Cas roared and slammed into Dean a few more times, before his knot locked into place and he bit down on the mark at the base of Dean’s neck. Dean shouted his name and came all over Cas’ hand at the same time as Cas came deep inside of him.

Cas’ mind cleared up a little as he lay panting on top of Dean, he licked and kissed soothingly at the mating mark. He hadn’t bit through the skin, but it would probably bruise. He maneuvered them to their sides and started trailing his fingers up and down Dean’s chest. Dean let out a tiny purr and pushed his body back against Castiel, clenching around his knot and milking another orgasm from him.

“How are you feeling, Dean?”

“Ssso good…” Dean mumbled, as he seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open.

“Sleep my little omega, you’ll need the rest.” Castiel said and nuzzled Dean’s neck.

It only took a few moments for Dean to fall asleep, but Cas was wide awake. He looked around a bit and his inner alpha scowled at the lack of nesting materials in the room. This place was not fit for his beautiful mate’s needs. He tried to wiggle around and get a better view to see if he could spot something to use, but all it did was make his knot tug at Dean’s rim, and another orgasm rushed through him. His mate sighed happily in his sleep, as Cas filled him up with more cum.

Castiel resigned to cuddling close to his mate, so he didn’t wake him, while trying to come up with a plan to make things more comfortable for him.

 

Thirty minutes later, Cas’ knot subsided, and he slipped out of Dean. He was planning on checking Dean’s closet for some more pillows and blankets, since there was only two pillows and the comforter in the bed at the moment. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of looking down at where they had been connected, and the sight of his cum mixed with slick flowing out of his mate’s loose hole sent him into another breeding frenzy.

His cock was already hard again, and he wrapped an arm around Dean’s chest as he pushed inside where they were lying on their sides. Dean woke up as Cas started to rock in and out of him, and moaned Castiel’s name. Cas could scent the heady aroma of Dean’s arousal, and started to lick and bite at his neck, back and shoulders.

Dean gasped and started to grind back on Cas’ cock, meeting every thrust with his own. Castiel slid his arm down and put his hand under Dean’s knee, so that he could pull up the leg and thrust deeper inside. Dean grabbed his own dick and started stroking it in time with the thrusts, moaning loudly every time Cas’ hit his sweet spot.

Dean soon came with a cry, and then Cas knot slid inside, filling his mate with more cum. Castiel rubbed his hand up and down Dean’s arm and chest, telling him what a good omega he was.

“Dean, this isn’t a nice nest for you. Do you have any more blankets?”

“No, I brought them all to your place. Didn’t really anticipate it being necessary to keep stuff here. My heat has never come on this fast, it usually takes a couple of hours to build up.”

Castiel growled, his alpha side did not approve of their current conditions.

“How long do you think it’ll take for your next heat wave to hit after my knot goes down?”

“I don’t know, usually at this stage an hour or two. But it feels different this time, even from last time and then it took like forty minutes.”

“Well, that would be enough time for me to drive us home, I can carry you to and from the car.”

“I don’t think either one of us is in the right shape to drive. And what if a strange alpha happens to walk by while you’re carrying me, it would probably cause you to go into an alpha rage, even if they’re not an actual threat.”

“…You’re right. That could be catastrophic.” Cas tried to think, an uber or taxi would be equally bad.

“But… we can’t stay here, Dean. There’s no food or drink, no heat medication, even if we had someone deliver it to us, you only have the mini fridge. And the bed… it’s small and not comfortable enough for you.” No, this was far from good enough, he needed to find a solution to this.

“I know, but it’s not safe to go outside…”

“I could call Gabriel, he could drive us.”

“But he won’t be able to do anything if you go into a rage.”

Castiel groaned in exasperation, then it hit him.

“Gadreel! He could drive us, and he’s strong enough to hold me down if need be.” Castiel felt excited, he had found a way to get home and care for his mate the way he needed!

“What if you react badly to Gadreel? He won’t be able to drive us with you raging in the backseat.”

“It’s worth a try? He can come up to the room, if I start to react, we’ll just slam the door shut and have him deliver the things we need.” Dean looked skeptical, but eventually nodded.

“We need to do it tonight, I don’t think I’ll be coherent enough to move tomorrow.”

 

Said and done, when Cas’ was able to slip out of Dean, he called Gadreel who promised to come right away. Castiel got dressed and then helped Dean dress as well. After fifteen minutes, Gadreel called to tell them he was stuck in traffic due to a minor accident, but that he was going to try and drive around it. It would take him longer to get to Dean’s place though.

After twenty more minutes, Dean’s clothes were soaked in sweat and slick, he was shivering and struggling with stomach cramps. Castiel was about to rip their clothes off again, when there was a knock on the door.

Castiel swung the door open and stood face to face with Gadreel. He inhaled deeply, anticipating the red haze to take over and make him want to attack his best friend. Cas felt bone deep relief when he didn’t become enraged, but rather, slightly annoyed.e tooHe took a deep breath

“Are we cool?” Gadreel asked.

“I think so, yes.” Castiel answered, just as Dean cried out in pain and doubled over. Castiel hurried and scooped Dean up in his arms.

“Gad, take the keys on the table and lock the door!”

Gadreel hurried to pick up the keys, locked the door and hurried to catch up with the two mates on the stairs.

“Let me go first, I can look out for any alphas approaching before you can scent them.”

Castiel nodded and they made it out to the car without incident. He held Dean close as his mate shivered and whimpered. He tried his best to soothe his mate, but he could scent Dean’s pain and worry getting worse. Gadreel’s alpha scent was stronger in the confinement of the car, and that mixed with his mate’s distress was starting to affect his alpha protectiveness.

Cas clenched his teeth and tried to focus on Dean’s scent, but he could feel his hackles rising.

“Gadreel…you need to step on it.” he growled.

“I’m driving as fast as I can, Cas.”

“Drive. Faster.” The red was starting to bleed into his vision. Gadreel looked at him in the back mirror and cursed under his breath.

“Focus, Cas! Dean is safe right now, but he won’t be if you lose it while we’re on the road!” Gadreel managed to step on the gas, and Cas hoped they wouldn’t get pulled over.

He pulled Dean closer, trying to shut out Gadreel’s scent. Dean was gasping, and Cas could feel the fever through his clothes. When Gadreel drove up outside their building, Castiel threw the door open and practically ran out the car with Dean is his arms.

He could tell that Gadreel followed at a safe distance, probably to make sure Cas didn’t run into any of their alpha neighbors. Castiel barely managed to unlock the door and get Dean inside. He carried his mate to the bedroom and carefully lay him down on the bed, then he fetched a glass of water and made a semi-conscious Dean swallow some heat-medication with all the water.

 Castiel made sure there were enough blankets and pillows in the bed, he carefully removed Dean’s clothes and then his own. He kissed every part of Dean’s face, before pushing inside of his mate once more. He rocked into Dean as he kept softly kissing him. Dean’s breathing was fast and shallow, and even though he moved his hips with Cas’ thrusts, he seemed pretty out of it. Cas grabbed Dean’s hard dick and after only a few strokes, Dean came with a gasp. Cas continued to kiss every part of Dean that he could reach as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Dean started moaning and opened his eyes when Cas knot locked inside of him, and they both came at the same time.

Cas moved them around to their sides again and Dean put his face in Cas’ neck and fell asleep as Cas carded his hand through Dean’s sweaty hair. Castiel was relieved to feel Dean’s fever cooling down. He held his sleeping mate close as he too drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't have the time to proof read this, sorry in advance for any mistakes!  
> Wanted to post the chapter before I get busy.

Dean’s heat peaked during the night, and the strong scent and pheromones he produced made Castiel’s rut haze take over completely. Cas would have some clarity where he managed to get up and get them both food and water. He was amazed to realize that his alpha instinct would make sure that Dean was ok, and not only give in to sexual urges.

At one point during Tuesday, Castiel even managed to get Dean in the shower and clean up the both of them. Dean was feverish and delirious most of the time, until he was knotted, then he’d be able to communicate a little better.

On Wednesday, Castiel’s rut was over in the morning, he still made sure to knot his mate when needed, and now he was able to better keep track of the time between heat surges and Dean’s fever. In the late afternoon he prepared the couch with a bunch of the pillows, blankets and a couple of his own shirts, then he carried a sleeping Dean to the temporary nest. Castiel changed the bedsheets and aired out the bedroom, then he carried Dean back again.

He lay down close to his mate and took in Dean’s relaxed, sleeping face and how his long, dark eyelashes slightly shuddered. Cas listened to Dean’s calm, steady breathing, and smiled when he started to snore lightly. Cas found it almost hard to breath when a surge of emotions came crashing down over him.

If four months ago, someone had told him that he’d be laying in bed with Dean, his true mate, he would have laughed in their face. Meeting Dean had been a miracle in so many ways, thinking about it all felt almost surreal.

Dean stirred, his eyes fluttered open and he looked up into Cas’ eyes.

“Hey…your rut is over.” Dean’s voice was raspy with sleep.

“Yeah, been over since this morning.”

“Oh…”

“You seem a bit more lucid, how are you feeling?”

“I feel…ok, I think.” Castiel kissed Dean on the forehead.

“Your fever doesn’t seem as bad as before.”

They stared at each other for a bit.

“What are you smiling about?” Dean asked and gave Cas one of his own, beautiful smiles.

“You.” That made Dean smile even bigger.

“What about me?”

“I love you.” Dean drew in a small breath of air, then his smile softened, and he looked at Cas in a way that could have been answer enough.

“I love you too.”

They kept looking at each other, wrapped up in the moment, then Dean softly caressed the back of Castiel’s head, pulled him close, and kissed him sweetly. They kept kissing, slowly, without any rush, holding each other close.

After a while, Cas scented Dean’s heat starting on another surge, so he gently flipped Dean, so he was laying on his back, with Cas on top. Castiel then started to slowly kiss, lick and nip his was down Dean’s body. He payed extra attention to the sensitive inside of Dean’s thighs, until his mate was squirming and panting, begging Cas to fuck him.

Castiel grinned and only slipped a finger inside the leaking hole, earning himself a disgruntled whine and Dean trying to push down on the single digit.

“Shhh, I’ve got you…” Castiel said and added a second finger as he simultaneously licked the head of Dean’s cock. Dean keened and bucked his hips.

“Alphaaa…stop teasing!” He hissed.

Cas added a third finger and suckled on the tip, loving the choked sound coming from his mate. Then, before Dean could complain again, he twisted his fingers just right, and swallowed down as much of Dean’s dick as possible.

“Fuckfuckfuck…” Dean panted and tried to thrust his hips, but Cas held him down with his free hand. Cas sucked and licked in time with pushing his fingers inside, making sure to brush against Dean’s prostate at every turn. It didn’t take long before Dean was coming down his throat with a strangled cry.

Cas carefully pulled out his fingers, then he coated his painfully hard cock with Dean’s slick.  He proceeded to hook Dean’s legs over his shoulders, and then he slowly sank his cock into the slick warmth of his mate. Cas started thrusting and lowered his head to suck and nibble at Dean’s nipples. Dean moaned loudly every time Cas used his teeth.

“Come on honey, I wanna see you touch yourself.” Cas told Dean and straightened up, so he could grab on to Deans thighs and fuck into him harder. Dean threw back his head and groaned but did as told and started stroking himself hard and fast. Castiel felt his knot swell, and could tell that Dean was close too.

“Come on Dean, open your eyes, I want you to look at me when you cum.” Castiel ordered. Dean shuddered and whined, then he met Cas’ heated gaze. Castiel pushed his knot inside and Dean came hard enough for some of his cum to land on his chin, as Cas filled him up with his own release.

Castiel was still panting hard as he leaned over and licked Dean’s chin and chest clean.

 “Fuck, that almost made me hard again…” Dean slurred, making Castiel laugh and kiss him lovingly.

 

Thursday morning, Dean’s heat was practically over. They both enjoyed being bale to spend the day together in bed, without the rush of heat and rut hormones. They were cuddling and nuzzling each other, when Dean cleared his throat and looked a little nervous.

“So…um…my mom wants to meet you. Actually, my whole family does, but my mom’s the one who brought it up…” Castiel found it cute that Dean was nervous about asking him, they were mated, of course he’d need to meet Dean’s family soon.

“Dean, I’d love to meet them.” Castiel said seriously. Dean bit his lip and gave Cas a nervous smile.

“Well… it’s more than just that. She… _They_ want to throw us a mating party.”

“Oh…?” Castiel wasn’t sure what that ensued.

“Yeah, they want to celebrate that we’ve mated and that we’re true mates. It wouldn’t be anything fancy! Just like a barbecue, family and friends having a good time, that sort of thing. What do you think?” Dean met Castiel’s eyes, and Cas could tell from the look on his face and his scent, that Dean was really exited and hopeful.

The thought of meeting a lot of new people, especially people he really wanted to like him, made Cas slightly anxious. But, with Dean by his side it should be ok. Also, Dean deserved a real mating celebration. He smiled and gave Dean a kiss.

“I think it sounds great.” Cas heart almost skipped a beat at the radiant smile that lightened up his mate’s face.

“Seriously? That’s great! It will be awesome! My dad makes _the_ best burgers, and you haven’t truly lived before you’ve tasted mom’s pie!” Castiel couldn’t help but grin at his mate’s excitement.

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“They want to have the party as soon as possible. How much time in advance do you think Balthazar and his mate will need to know to be able to come?”

“What?” Cas gave Dean a confused look, and his mate rolled his eyes affectionately.

“It’s a mating celebration, your family and friends need to be there too.” Castiel immediately felt more comfortable about the whole thing.

“I see. Well, I think Balthazar and Meg would reschedule pretty much anything for something like this.”

“Awesome! I’ll tell my mom tomorrow, then we can start making plans.”

Dean then started telling Cas about various family members and Castiel happily listened and asked questions. When they were falling asleep that evening, Castiel was looking forward to the whole thing almost as much as Dean.

 

Dean went back to work on Friday and he had to work through the weekend and some late nights to catch up on a couple of his projects. Castiel himself had to work early morning to låter evening for about a week to be able to keep up with his own deadlines. It was a huge change from the last two weeks where they had gotten to spend so much time together. They tried to make the most of the little time they got together.

When Gabriel got back, he had jokingly complained about never getting the heat and rut stench out of the apartment. He’d gotten childishly excited when they’d told him about the mating party, that had been set at a date three weeks from now. Gabriel even managed to convince Dean and Mary to let him help with the food.

Castiel and Dean invited Gadreel and Anna out to dinner to thank Gadreel for his help during Dean’s heat. They then bought them extra dessert when Gadreel laughingly told them he’d had to go to the carwash and have them use a special detergent to get the strong scent of rut and heat out of the car seats.

 

Dean and Cas finally had an evening off together and had decided to go to dinner and a movie. They were standing in line to get some snacks when a group of three rowdy alphas got in line behind them. One of them bumped into Cas.

“Watch it, man!” The alpha who’d bumped into him said. Cas turned his head to look at him, and the guy straightened up and tried to look big and intimidating.

“Sorry.” Castiel said with a nod and continued talking with Dean, not really paying attention to what had happened. The three alphas erupted in laughter, and Castiel thought he heard them say something about “pathetically submissive” but didn’t really pay attention to it. He did however pick up on Dean’s body posture getting stiff and that he seemed irritated.

“You ok, Dean?” Castiel asked as he payed for their drinks and snacks.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.” Dean seemed to relax and smiled at Cas.

They continued talking until they sat down in their seats and started watchin the movie.

 

When the movie was over, and they were walking through an alley to get to Cas’ car, they met two of the three alphas again. The same guy who had bumped into Cas in the theater now slammed into him with his shoulder as they passed each other. Castiel felt a little annoyed, but decided to let it go. Dean seemed to be on the same page as he narrowed his eyes angrily, but didn’t say anything.

“Hey asshole! Apologize for walking into me!” The annoying alpha shouted, as his friend snickered beside him. Castiel rolled his eyes and then turned his head.

“Sorry.” Then he started to walk again, but the alpha grabbed his shoulder and made him turn around.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever met such a pathetic excuse for an alpha before. Do you have a back bone, like at all?” The guy was trying to look big and intimidating again, staring into Cas’ eyes.

“I don’t see a need for unnecessary quarreling. Please let go of me and we can both be on our way.” Castiel answered calmly. The alphas laughed.

“How any omega agreed to let you mate them is beyond me, even if it’s a male one.” The alpha spit out the “male” part.

“Fuck you! He’s more alpha than you’ll ever be, you insecure, posturing asshole!” Dean bit out, looking and smelling pissed. The alphas burst out laughing again.

“Look, the omega has to speak for him!” The other alpha gasped.

“How sad! Hey blondie! I’m not usually into male omegas, but you’re pretty enough for me to let you warm my knot for an evening. What do you say, want to know what a real knot feels like?” The alpha made a crude gesture at his crotch, and Castiel growled at the same time as Dean, eyes dark with rage, swung his arm and punched the alpha in the face. The alpha stumbled back a couple of steps, then he was suddenly pushing Dean up against the wall, a hand around his throat. Castiel’s vision turned red.

“You fucking whore!” The alpha managed to scream, blood dripping from his nose, before Cas got his hands on him.

Castiel let out an enranged roar, and pulled the alpha off Dean, throwing him into the opposite wall. The alpha fell to the ground, and before he could stand up, Cas pulled him up and twisted his arm until it snapped. The alpha screamed in pain and Cas punched him in the face, shutting him up. Castiel felt a hand on his shoulder, but as he turned around it disappeared. When he finished turning he saw the second alpha on the ground, holding his throat and struggling to breath.

Castiel saw Dean stand above the guy, angry look on his face. A sound behind him made Cas snap around again, and he saw the first alpha running away, caressing his arm. The second alpha scrambled to his feet and stared to run after his friend.

Castiel growled and prepared to run after them.

“Cas, stop!” Dean’s voice had him stopping in his tracks, he turned his head toward his mate.

“Let them go, I think they learned their lesson.” Castiel growled quietly, but stopped when he saw the red marks on Dean’s throat. Immediately the red disappeared and he hurried to his mate’s side.

“Dean! Are you ok?” He gently stroked his fingers over the marks and Dean winced. The red started to seep back.

“They hurt you! I will kill them!”Castiel growled, and Dean grabbed his arm.

“No, Cas! Please, calm down. I need you to stay here, with me.” Dean pleaded. Hearing that his mate needed him, the red went away again. Cas embraced Dean, who nuzzled Cas’ neck, scenting him.

“I’m so sorry, Dean. I should have reacted faster, then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” His inner alpha howled at his failure to protect his mate.

“Don’t be stupid, you protected me just fine. You were great.” Dean pushed his body closer to Cas.

“Well, you were quite the badass, punching that assbutt in the face, and having my back when the other guy tried to jump me.” Dean snorted a laugh and mumbled “assbutt?”, but Cas was busy thinking about Dean standing over the second alpha, righteous anger permeating the air. It’d been…hot. Dean started rubbing his nose against Cas’ neck, hands sliding down his back and up his shirt.

“The way you threw him through the air, like ha weighed nothing…” Dean mumbled, and Cas could suddenly scent Dean’s slick in the air, making Cas dick start to swell.

“Dean, we should get back to the car…” Dean grabbed Cas’ arm and pulled him with him as he almost started running towards the car.

They made it into the car, but not out of the parking lot, and they ended up having to wait out Cas’ knot in the backseat of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cas meeting the inlaws comming up!  
> The next chapter will take a little longer, unfortunately.  
> I'll be travelling this weekend and I need to plan the chapter a bit more.


End file.
